A Saviour's Fall
by Rydia Asuka
Summary: Spoilers! When the Phantom Thieves come across a new, unknown door, deep in the depths of Mementos, they can hardly resist exploring it. The palace they find, and the treasure within, will be like nothing they've faced before. As for the palace ruler...well, some fights cannot be won with brute force.
1. Chapter 1

_A short, intro chapter. The mess will follow shortly._

Disclaimer: Shin Megami Tensei and all affiliated characters and settings belong to Atlus. No copyright infringement is intended; no profit is being made.

* * *

"That it? Did we win?"

Akira glanced over at Ryuji's question, noting his friend's hunched posture and laboured breathing. The rest of the group wasn't faring much better, sweat and blood staining their costumes. Makoto, Ryuji, and himself were the only three still on their feet, everyone else was slumped on the floor, recuperating from the fight.

"I...think so," Makoto panted, wiping a stray tendril of blood off her forehead. "At least it doesn't seem to be getting up again."

"Thank fuck," Ryuji muttered, letting himself drop to his butt on the ground.

"Hey guys, I don't mean to be the bearer of bad tidings, but there's no treasure," Futaba said.

"Oracle's right," Morgana agreed, bounding over. "There was a reading, but it's completely vanished. Like it was never here."

"That's...really bad, isn't it?" Ann asked, struggling to her feet and walking over to them.

"...have we failed?" Haru asked, looking at them worriedly.

"There must be something-" Yusuke began, almost on top of her.

"Please, I can't keep this up..." Ann muttered.

Akira raised a hand, stepping away from Ryuji and Futaba. "We didn't get the treasure, but the shrine is still here. We just have to keep going."

"Seriously?" complained Ryuji. "My feet feel like they're gonna fall off."

"I know," Akira said calmly. "Let's head back to the entrance and take ten."

It was a disgruntled group that crowded around as he took out a Goho-M and activated it. Nobody complained, however, and within moments they were back in the prison square, watching over the crowds vying to get inside.

"...it's so twisted." Ann's voice broke the silence first.

"Agreed. But let's not forget that these aren't real people," Yusuke said.

"No, just the physical reflection of their inner feelings." Makoto sounded grim.

Akira tuned out the discussion, stepping up to the entrance of the Velvet Room and allowing the twins to escort him inside. Stepping up to the cell bars, he grasped the cold iron in his bare hands, staring across the empty space to where Igor lounged behind his desk.

"It seems you have failed." That grating voice was no more welcome than it had been on every previous visit-but Igor _had_ been incredibly helpful thus far, so here was where Akira was going to seek answers. He had no other options, after all. "That is most...disappointing."

"We haven't failed, we just...need some help," Akira forced out reluctantly. It did feel a bit like failure.

Okay, a lot.

"You wish for help in your rehabilitation?"

"The Treasure's missing."

"So it is, if indeed it was ever there. Without it, however, you have failed, and humanity's doom is nigh."

"There must be something we can do. This can't be it..."

"There is nothing that can be done. Humanity has failed. You have failed."

In a fit of pique, Akira rattled the cell door. "No! I won't accept that! We haven't done all of this to fail now! There must be something we can do! _Igor!"_

The creepy man fell silent for a long while, his beady eyes meeting Akira's steady, unwavering gaze. Eventually, he sat back, frowning. "Perhaps, if you face Death itself and prevail..."

"Death? What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Igor simply grinned demonically. A moment later, the Velvet Room faded from view, and he was back in the square with his exhausted teammates.

"Face death?" he muttered to himself, glancing back at Josephine and Caroline. Raising his voice, he continued, "What does he mean?"

With a scowl, Caroline gestured to a previously unnoticed trapdoor in the centre of their meeting place. "There."

Mystified, he took a step towards it, only to freeze at a sharp bark from Caroline. "Wait, inmate! Forgetting something?"

Before he could ask what, she had waved her crop, and within an instant, he felt the bulk of his fatigue lift away. A quick glance confirmed that his teammates were also feeling it. When he glanced back at Caroline, she was simply watching with a stony face. Nodding his thanks, he turned back and jogged away, waving his friends over as he did so. Within moments, they were gathered around the trap door.

"I definitely smell something," Morgana said after a moment. "I'm not sure what, though."

"Let's open it!" Ryuji said, storming forward and grasping the handle. Before anyone could make a move, he had pulled open the door. Darkness met their eyes, sinking down, down, down...

"Well that's ominous," Futaba said, frowning down into the pit. "Its reading is off the charts."

Akira moved to the edge, squinting as he struggled to pierce the impenetrable blackness. No ladder or staircase led down, just four, unmarked walls.

"What do you think it is? It wasn't here before," Makoto said softly.

"It's death," Akira replied grimly. That was what Igor had said, right? Face death.

"Well, that is a tad grim..." Yusuke commented.

"Maybe. But it's our next challenge." Without a second thought, Akira stepped off the edge and fell into the abyss. The startled cries of his teammates followed him down.


	2. Chapter 2

Akira only caught sight of the floor an split second before he hit it. Battle-honed reflexes kicked in just in time, and he rolled into the fall, catching himself neatly and standing. The next thing to hit him was the total...silence. There was no movement, no sound of breathing or footsteps, or even birds, bugs, or wind. It sounded like, like...

The inside of a tomb.

"Joker! Leader!"

"You _idiot_!"

Voices flooded down, along with light, as Prometheus slowly sank into the pit. Movement atop the Persona revealed the rest of his team, all shouting a variety of insults and acclamations of relief at him.

Makoto was the first to leap off the top. Moving quickly, Akira caught her as she hit the ground and stabilised her. Before he could wholly recover, she'd bopped him hard on the shoulder.

"That was a...foolish thing to do, Joker."

He smirked at her. "Like you're one to talk."

"He's right, Queen. You're really not," Ann said, giggling as she slid to the floor. Her tone sobered. "But really, Joker, don't you ever do that again."

"Shit man, you gave us a heart attack. Don't do that again."

Haru laughed. "You know it's bad when Skull scolds you."

Akira tolerated the scolding for a moment longer, before sending them a meaningful look and striding away. They fell into step behind him, protests dying off as they walked slowly into the darkness.

"Let me go on ahead. We'll light the way," Futaba said, floating on ahead and illuminating the path ahead with Prometheus' glow.

She had only made it a few metres when they all stopped dead. The path ahead was blocked by a young man, leaning casually against the wall. "What—? There's no reading at all!" Futaba said, alarm clear in her voice.

"Stay back," Akira ordered, stepping ahead of his navigator protectively.

As he approached, the young man cracked one eye, then moved to face them. There was nothing particularly strange about his movements, but every instinct Akira had was screaming that the young man was dangerous. He kept one hand on his blade's hilt.

"Welcome. I didn't think anyone would actually be stupid enough to come here."

"Who are you?" Akira asked, holding up a hand to warn his friends back.

"I could ask you the same thing." The stranger appeared to be at ease, at least insofar as Akira could tell in the dull lighting. As he stepped closer, Akira took a moment to fully appraise him.

He was dressed somewhat eccentrically, in a black cloak covering what appeared to be a school uniform, and adorned with an oversized, yellow scarf. His brown hair was slicked back, and he seemed to be of average height. His gaze, however, was unnatural. Akira wasn't sure why, exactly, but it was.

"Joker," he finally offered.

"...well, Joker. It's nice to meet you. I'm called Ryoji. And how about the rest of your friends?"

Akira relaxed his posture slightly, but remained ready to react at a moment's notice. Ryoji didn't seem overly hostile, but something still felt wrong. He wasn't a shadow, or even a persona user...or even alive, if Futaba's sensors were to be relied upon. Perhaps that in and of itself was enough for his discomfort.

"Guys," he said, waving them forward.

As the approached, he gestured to each in turn. "Queen, Mona, Panther, Skull, Oracle, Fox, and Noir. Guys, this is—"

"Ryoji. It's great to meet you all," the young man, Ryoji, said charmingly, bowing to Ann politely.

"So, uh, Ryoji-san...what is this place?" Yusuke asked, stepping up beside Akira.

Ryoji turned his attention from Ann. For an instant, his gaze landed on Akira's—and then it hit him, what was wrong about it. His eyes were a normal blue. But they were...empty. Flat. Like endless pits.

Akira shivered.

"Where are my manners? Welcome to Tartarus, Phantom Thieves of Hearts." They hadn't introduced themselves as such, had they? "And if you insist on exploring in here, I will have to kill you."

The alarm on his friends' faces was mirrored on his own. Akira recovered first, expression hardening at the blatant threat. "Kill us?"

"Don't mistake me; I have no desire to harm any of you. However, as a guardian of this place, I cannot permit you to wander around unchecked. I strongly suggest you turn around and leave the way you came in."

"Hey, we can't do that!" Morgana yelled, storming over. "There's a Treasure in here, and if we don't take it...!"

"Just forget about it," Ryoji said, shrugging. "This isn't necessary to pursue your goals. Leave and forget about it, please. I don't want to harm any of you."

"Well, that seems like a pretty easy problem to solve: don't," Ryuji grumbled.

"If only it were that simple," Ryoji said, giving them a sad smile. "Just please, take my advice and leave. You won't win this one."

"You listen here!" Ryuji snapped, taking a step forward. "We—"

"Just heed my advice. If you come further, I will kill you all," Ryoji said, turning and beginning to walk away. "I have nothing more to tell you."

Within moments, he'd disappeared into the darkness. When Ryuji stalked after him, he returned moments later shaking his head. "Dammit. I can't track him in this darkness."

As if on cue, the metaphorical lights switched on. Oh, they weren't real lights, but they did the job of illuminating the place effectively. Judging by the gasps of several of his team, Akira thought perhaps the darkness had been better.

Glowing, orange veins provided a murky illumination, showing clearly the mottled red and black marble of the walls. It also brought to light the plethora of bones and skulls encased in the walls. Cracks in the stone leaked a red liquid that Akira didn't think too hard about.

"...this definitely...feels like Mementos," Ann muttered bleakly.

"Indeed it does," Haru said, walking over to her side. "But I suppose we have to keep going."

"That's right," Akira said firmly, motioning them to follow him. "Keep Ryoji's warning in mind, but there's no option but to press on. Mona?"

"I can definitely smell the Treasure, now. It's pretty far away, though."

"That's fine. How is everyone doing?"

"Better than after that last fight, but damn I could go for some food," Ryuji said.

The others agreed to various degrees—even Akira felt the same, though he refrained from voicing it. They needed to be able to rely on their leader, so him complaining wouldn't help anyone.

"Well, let's press on, then. I promise, we'll have a feast at Leblanc after we're done here."

"That sounds wonderful," Makoto said, falling in at his side. Morgana and Yusuke fell in behind, also, then the rest of the group took up the vanguard. With Futaba hovering overhead, they proceeded.

The first door they found also invited their first shadows. The combat proved more difficult than any before it had been, and his already tired and hungry team were forced to further exert their limited energy supply. There was no choice, however, so on they went.

After another hour of walking and fighting, Ann groaned from the back, "Come on, Mona! Can't you turn into a car or something? Anything beats walking."

"I think can. There's enough space. Joker?"

Akira considered the request. This place was far more like Mementos than a palace, despite not having had any hint of a ruler. There was a security feature, though, and the shadows here acted like guards and called warnings. That made the idea of driving around more dangerous than beneficial...

One look at his exhausted team decided for him. "Front and back lines, full switch. Mona, drive the back line for now. We'll switch it up occasionally. Give you all a chance to rest."

"Joker? What about you?" Makoto asked quietly, stepping up to his side.

"Don't worry about me; I can keep going. You guys just get some rest."

"Joker..."

"Go on, Queen. That's an order."

She sent him a look that promised _words_ later, but she went. Anything, so long as they were safe.

Nodding to his new front line, he led the way onwards. Unlike previous palaces, they had come across no traps yet, and the decor was surprisingly...stark. Empty hallways patrolled by shadows, and massive, stone doors with unfamiliar symbols on them.

With each new room, Akira waited for the gimmick, but it never came. No traps. No tricks. Just empty hallways and emptier rooms. The barrenness of it all weighed on Akira in a way that surprised even him. Who, exactly, was the ruler of this place? Was it Ryoji? If so, why hadn't he challenged them further at the start?

...and why wasn't he a Shadow? His eyes had been starkly blue, not golden. If he were a Shadow, it should have been obvious. So was he a simple cognition, brought to life by the palace's ruler? That seemed the most obvious answer, but somehow it didn't sit right with Akira, though he couldn't put his finger on why, exactly.

They would just have to continue on until they found him again...and then be ready for anything, because as much as Akira didn't want to hurt Ryoji, he wouldn't risk his team, or all of society, on trying not to fight him. If Ryoji came for them, they would give it their all.

"Guys? I sense a safe room ahead. We should take a break."

Futaba's words sent a stab of relief through him. Waving the others to follow Futaba, they arrive at the door. After shoving it open, Akira stopped dead.

In stark contrast to the rest of the palace, the safe room was nicely furnished, with a comfortable rug, and oversized armchairs and sofas arranged around a coffee table. A TV played static in the corner, also, casting the room in a dull, blue glow. The walls in here were standard, wooden panelling, and painted on top of that. In a far cry from the rest of the place, this room was almost painfully normal.

With various sounds of relief, his group scattered onto the furniture, dropping down with relieved sighs. Only Akira remained standing, eyeing the room with a critical gaze. How was it so different...?

"Joker?"

At Makoto's voice, Akira smiled tiredly and dropped next to her on the love seat. "It's good to finally find a place to take a break. We've done three floors already."

"Indeed it is. You above us all. Don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

In a rare display of public affection, Akira caught her hand and tugged it behind the folds of his coat, effectively hiding their clasped hands from view. "I'll try, but I have a bad feeling about this one."

"You mean about how we know nothing about this place?"

He nodded. "Ryoji's warning aside, we don't even have a clue who the ruler is."

"No, we don't. I take it you don't think it's Ryoji, either."

That wasn't a question, but he shook his head anyway. "No. Strange thing is...I don't think he's a cognition, either. He seemed too...real."

"I agree. He had too much agency for someone's dreamed-up version of a person."

"Not only that, but doesn't Oracle's inability to sense him worry you, too?"

Makoto nodded. "She's never been able to not-sense palace life before. Do you think he's another persona user, like us? Perhaps who learned to conceal his presence?"

Akira pondered her question. It was plausible. If so, the idea was worrisome. To have the ability to completely hide from Futaba, even in plain sight...Ryoji's power had to be way beyond theirs. He chose his next words carefully.

"I think...if that's the case, we need to be careful."

"Agreed. We'll push forward with more caution. He could be anywhere."

"Hey guys, whatcha talkin' about?" Futaba's head appeared behind the seat back as she awkwardly dropped her laptop right on their clasped hands. Draping herself over the back in a way that could not be comfortable, their navigator began furiously typing. "Ryoji, right?"

"Uh, yes," Makoto said, awkwardly releasing Akira's hand and pulling back to give Futaba space.

"I've been trying to get a read on the guy, but it's a no-go—literally! I can't get a scan on him anywhere in here. I'd say it's like he dropped out of existence, but since he never _had_ a reading, that wouldn't make much sense."

"I can still smell the Treasure, though, and it's definitely getting closer! I'd say we're about a quarter of the way there," Morgana supplied, hopping up onto the coffee table in front of them.

"Well then, we can't waste too much time here. We should get going."

"All righty!" Futaba yelled, standing and striding directly for the doors. "C'mon, slowpokes!"

With a sigh, Akira followed.


	3. Chapter 3

As they continued on, Akira switched them up regularly, making certain everyone got ample break time in the back, while the front line handled the combat. Everyone but himself, of course.

Makoto was worried. Her boyfriend was putting on a brave face and acting unperturbed by the endless fighting, but she could see it beginning to wear at him in his slower reaction times and the way he occasionally dragged his feet. Oh, he wasn't stumbling or anything, but he was _clearly_ exhausted. The problem was, who could fill in for the man who could do everything? Nobody, that was who.

"What do you make of this, Queen?" Ann asked, turning Makoto's attention from staring out the window at Akira, to the vehicle's interior.

"Hm? Sorry, I wasn't listening very well," she admitted.

"I asked what you thought about this palace. It's really strange, isn't it?"

Allowing herself to be distracted from worrying about Akira, Makoto nodded. "Yes. The interior is like nothing we've encountered before, at least not in a palace. This whole thing feels more like Mementos than a palace. That aside, we've not seen even a hint of the ruler." They were five floors deep already, and still...nothing. In fact, they hadn't found anything resembling intelligent life since they'd encountered Ryoji at the entrance.

"Yeah. It's really weird. Like, the Shadows are acting normally, patrolling like guards, but what, or who, are they guarding? It kinda feels like guards defending an abandoned prison, or something."

"That's...actually a good analogy. It brings up the possibility that maybe...there is no ruler. What if this is an abandoned palace?"

"I don't think that's possible," Morgana chimed in. "If there's no ruler, the palace should disappear."

"Should," Makoto argued, "but do we know that for certain? What if, say, the ruling Shadow abandoned it, but still exists outside of...well, Mementos? For that matter, is it possible for a person to have multiple palaces?"

"Hm..."Morgana hummed, "I guess it could be, if the distortion was big enough, and affected more than one place. Never heard of it happening, though."

"No, and I'm not saying it ever has. I was just wondering," Makoto agreed.

"It's good to understand what we're dealing with," Ann said, "so I think it's worthwhile to think about things like that."

"I agree," Futaba's voice crackled down to them. "If we have a better understanding of the situation, then maybe we won't be caught off guard so much." Clearly, Ryoji had thrown her for a loop—admittedly, he'd thrown them all for a loop, and hadn't really stopped. They were all on-edge, waiting for him to jump out and ambush them.

"Still. Only one way to know for sure, and that's to press on. Stairs ahoy!" Futaba called cheerily.

The "stairs" as it were, were really just more pits in the floor. Still, after the first couple, jumping into them had gotten easier. A little. Thanks to Futaba and the eerie lighting, anyway.

Piling out of the car, they all climbed atop Prometheus and sank onto the pit. As they touched down, Futaba's voice immediately cut off any chatter.

"Guys, I'm sensing a really strong reading on this floor! It might be the ruler!"

That brought an uncertain silence to the group while they all exchanged glances. It was Ryuji who broke the silence first.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go kick some Shadow ass!"

The words broke the stalemate, and the tired friends exchanged nods and immediately began the practiced routine of checking their weapons and equipment.

"Guys, there's a safe room here!" Morgana called from a short distance ahead.

"Let's go," Akira said, waving them ahead.

* * *

Akira dropped into an armchair as the rest of his team also settled in, tiredness evident on their faces. He hated having to ask so much of them, it wasn't fair for them to be forced to fight so much, but he had no choice. The best he could do was take most of the burden upon himself, and try his best to ensure they all got some rest.

It wasn't enough, though. It had been a long day, and there was no sign of it letting up anytime soon.

He really didn't know if they could do it.

None of them were willing to give up, however, so they prepared, rested, ate a few energy bars, and headed out once more. Very little conversation was exchanged at this point, aside from hurried orders to his front and back lines. Everyone was tired, but focussed. He was so proud of them.

It only took them a few doors to reach the source of the reading. The hallway fed into a large room, the walls of which disappeared into the dimness. Cautiously stepping into the open, Akira took a few steps before a noise reached his ears. Pausing, he frowned, glancing back at his friends in question.

"Is that...music?" Futaba asked quietly.

Indeed it seemed to be. Akira exchanged an uncertain look with Makoto, then waved Morgana forward. If any of them could sneak up on this...harp? player, it would be him. It was a tense few moments until Morgana returned at a sprint.

"It...definitely saw me," he panted, glancing in the direction of the music. "It didn't do anything, though, just sat there, playing...playing a harp. It's a Shadow, though, no doubt about it!"

"Good enough for me," Akira said. "Queen, Mona, Fox, with me. The rest of you, stand by. I have a feeling we'll all be fighting. Let's go!"

Weapons drawn, they ran in, taking offensive positions around the Shadow. Despite their presence, it continued plucking away at its harp, barely sparing them a glance. Akira took the reprieve to study it. With a crimson body, and almost mechanical, white limbs, it didn't look all that threatening, but Futaba had warned them it was strong, so he wasn't taking any chances.

"If it's not hostile, don't engage it. Go around and head for the door," he ordered softly. "Just be careful."

They began the slow game of creeping around, and for a moment, it seemed like they were going to get by without a battle—and then the Shadow stood and strummed its harp.

"It's focussed!" Futaba shrieked.

And like that, all pretence of peace was gone.

"Get me a reading, Oracle! Queen, Fox, buff us!" Akira yelled, taking up his own position, knife ready. In quick succession, he felt the results of Makoto's and Yusuke's spells raise his defence and agility, respectively. Calling upon Odin, he added his own attack buff to the group.

Without direct commands, Morgana rushed in, blade swinging. With a sharp meow, he backed off when his attack appeared to fail.

"Joker, it repels physical!" Makoto yelled. "Don't use physical attacks!"

"Got it!" he called back, immediately reevaluating his strategy. "Fox, switch with Panther the second you get an opening. Mona, stick to wind skills!"

"Got it!" Yusuke called, immediately seeking an opening.

This was the problem with being the leader. He needed to strategise and fight. It got to be a lot to manage—but they needed him.

"Watch out, Joker!" Futaba yelled. "It's agile! You need to find a way to slow it down!"

Great.

"Michael!" he yelled, swapping personas again and casting a Debilitate on the enemy.

"It's going to attack!" At Futaba's warning, Akira cancelled his spell and braced himself as a massive Wild Thunder spell clapped down around them.

"Mona's down! Watch out!" Futaba warned.

"Dammit. Queen, heal us!" Akira ordered, running out to draw its attention before it took out Morgana. Luckily, the ploy worked, and he found himself the target of a nasty God's Hand skill. The pain only lasted a moment before a relieving Mediarahan washed over them all.

"Panther here!"

"Focus on damage! Stick to Concentrate and Blazing Hell!" Akira ordered. "We need damage off!"

"Roger that!" Ann called back, summoning her persona.

"It's focussing again! Another big one's coming!" Futaba warned.

Swearing, Akira swapped his own persona and focussed himself. Whatever its resistances, Black Viper would hit it hard.

"Watch it!"

Futaba's shrieked warning was the only notification they had. Luckily, their reflexes were still boosted, and Akira and Morgana both managed to narrowly avoid the devastating Megidolaon that smashed down amongst them.

"Panther's down!" Damn, she didn't have their buffs, did she?

"Mona, take care of it! Queen, Matarukaja again!"

"Joker, it's charging!"

Dammit. How fast was this thing? "Mona! Hit it!"

"I'm trying! It's fast!" Morgana yelled back.

Dammit. Back to Michael, he tried another Debilitate, this time successfully getting it off in time. "Try now!"

"Joker," Futaba's voice was strangely serious, "this is dangerous. Maybe we should retreat."

"Dangerous how?"

"It's resisting all your hits."

"It won't resist this!" Back to Satan, he unleashed Black Viper.

It dodged.

"Dammit!"

"I'm trying to tell you! Queen analysed its skills. Joker it's too fast!"

"Give me the list!"

She did.

 **Harbinger of Nothingness**

Slash:Repel Gun:Repel  
Agi:Resist Bufu:Resist Zio:Resist Garu:Resist Psio:Resist Nuke:Resist  
Bless:Resist Curse:Resist

Wild Thunder, Megidolaon  
Concentrate, Charge,  
God's Hand, Repel Physical  
Ali Dance, Healing Harp

"It's like one of yours! Like someone built it to handle everything!"

Akira clenched his jaw. She was right. How were they supposed to deal with both Ali Dance and healing? "Well, we can't give up here."

"Maybe we can sneak around. Just please, fall back!"

Akira paused to consider, but a split second later, Makoto's cry broke through any thought.

"Mona!"

"Mona's down!" Futaba warned almost on top of her. "Quick, car—"

The Megidolaon knocked them all flat. Groaning, Akira struggled back to his feet. "Panther, item!"

"Got it!" she acknowledged, pulling out a Bead Chain and tossing it to them. Relief washed over him instantly, and Akira straightened.

"Joker, it's so strong," Makoto called, glancing at him worriedly. He waved off her concern.

"Keep hitting it! We've survived all of its hits! Just keep up the offence! We can outlast it!"

Makoto hesitated, then nodded. Anat's Atomic Flare took the Shadow right in the face.

...they trusted him so much. He couldn't fail.

The next charged up Wild Thunder also hit Morgana too hard. The cat was thrown back, hitting the floor hard. Before anyone could act, the Shadow was slamming them with another Megidolaon. This time, Akira wasn't so quick to rise.

Had he done it this time? Had he led them into a fight they couldn't win? He could only pray they saw sense and left him to save themselves. If only they lived, he could find peace...

He vision blurred and darkened to the sound of footsteps running towards him.

* * *

 _Thanks for the support guys. :) Next chapter is a good one._


	4. Chapter 4

"Joker? Joker! Guys, Joker's down!" Futaba shrieked, drawing Makoto's attention away from the battle and to Akira.

Her eyes widened at the sight. Akira. "Akira!" His name had left her mouth before she could think, and her legs were moving, carrying her to his side. She summoned Anat without thinking, pumping a Diarahan spell into him.

As she watched, the bloody wound on the back of his head closed itself over, as did numerous other scraps and cuts. He didn't stir, though. _He's alive. The wounds wouldn't heal if he wasn't_ _alive_! she frantically reminded herself as she dropped to her knees beside him. Taking his head into her lap, she immediately set to work assessing him, pulling open one eyelid to check pupil dilation.

" _ **Persona**_!"

The unfamiliar shriek that cut across the battlefield drew Makoto's attention. Her eyes widened in surprise. At least ten—more, probably—young men and women had surrounded them. The young woman who had shouted stood at their head, a large persona at her back, dwarfing her.

"Go, Isis!"

In response, the persona shifted, massive wings rising as hurricane-force wings smashed into the Shadow. It staggered back from the force.

Turning her attention back to the persona user, Makoto watched as a grey-haired young man stepped up beside the woman who had attacked, issuing orders as he went.

"Yukiko, Teddie, see to the kids. Yukari, Mitsuru-san, Akihiko, Junpei, and Naoto, draw its attention! Fuuka, get me a full analysis! Rise, I want the surrounding area scanned! We don't need anyone sneaking up on us.

"The rest of you, fall in for backup. I want all entrances and exits to this room secured. Yosuke, with me."

Before Makoto's eyes, the group jumped into action, following their obvious leader's commands. A pretty girl with long, black hair ran over to them, kneeling beside Makoto.

"Is he okay?"

"I...believe so. He got knocked out by a fall," Makoto said, shifting slightly to allow the girl to examine Akira.

"An easy enough fix," the girl said reassuringly. Summoning a card, she used a fan to shatter it, unleashing a beautiful persona that bathed Akira in a healing glow. Within moments, his eyelids were fluttering.

"A—Joker!" Makoto breathed, relieved.

"Thank fuck," Ryuji said, having wandered over. The rest of their team crowded in also. "Freaky seein' you down, Joker."

Akira raised a hand to his head, groaning softly before pushing himself back to his feet. "Sorry to worry you all. We—who's she?"

"Amagi Yukiko," the young woman said, standing also. "The introductions can wait, though. Does anyone else need healing?"

Makoto watched as her exhausted friends quickly took the young woman up on her offer. It had been such a long day, and they all seemed happy to let the strangers handle the battle.

And handle it they did. At a gesture from Akira, Makoto joined him in walking over to where the grey-haired man was giving orders, a brunet man at his side giving quick advice.

"Yukari, find a way to block its magic! We'll never beat it if it keeps healing! Naoto, focus on offence! We need Almighty in here! Chie, give them an attack boost! C'mon guys, I want this over with quickly! If it gets an inch, we'll be here all day!"

"What do you think?"

It took Makoto a moment to process Akira's whispered question, but when she did she found herself frowning contemplatively.

"I...think they arrived just in the nick of time," she said honestly.

"Perhaps, but who are they, and where did they come from?"

"I think we'll find out in a few minutes."

"Guys. Guys, this is crazy!" Futaba cried, rushing over on foot. "Look at them go!"

"I just hope they're on our side," Akira said heavily, "but we don't have a good history with other persona users."

...true, Makoto conceded mentally. The strangers had saved them all, though, so she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she didn't think they really had any other choice.

"C'mon, Orpheus," the brunette persona user from before yelled, "just try and take me! Isis!"

"Calm down, Yukari! Use your head or I'm gonna have to pull you out of there!" the leader warned angrily. Then, quieter, "Yosuke, go make sure she doesn't get herself, or anyone else, injured. She's too close to this."

"Right, Partner," the young man with them said, running off.

The leader sighed, folding his arms. "What do you do when they lose their heads? I can't very well deny her the right to fight, but she's too reckless."

"Do you have the right to tell her not to fight?" Akira challenged, much to Makoto's surprise.

"I do if I think she'll get herself or someone else killed." The stranger sighed. "But she has a right to be upset."

"Souji, there's an opening!" The group's apparently youngest member had run over while they were talking, and was gesturing frantically to the Shadow.

"Right Ken, let's go guys! All—"

"All-Out Attack!" Yukari yelled, leading the charge at the Shadow.

The leader, Souji, swore and ran after them.

The teenager frowned, stepping up to them. "I know why she's upset—I mean, we all are—but Souji's the leader now. We agreed on that. She needs to learn to listen to him."

" _Lucifer_!"

At the firm, commanding cry, Makoto turned back to the battle. As she'd thought, the voice was Souji's and his Persona was exactly what she'd expect a leader's to be as it dropped an enormous Megidolaon on the Shadow.

This time, it didn't get up.

"All right! Nice going guys! Let's finish it!" Ryuji yelled running in. Before he'd gone ten paces, a large, well-muscled man in a red shirt tackled him.

Beside Makoto, Akira tensed, reaching for his weapon.

"Knock it off. We aren't going to kill it," the man said, shoving Ryuji away. "You, in the black. You're the leader, right? Call your team off. This isn't their fight anymore."

Akira hesitated for a moment, but much to Makoto's relief, he nodded, calling to the others to back off. They grouped together, watching as the other group—or, rather, groups. Though there was only one obvious leader, there were two distinct teams out there, one wearing red armbands and carrying guns, and the other wearing glasses—surrounded the fallen Shadow.

"What the hell, Joker? Who are those guys?" Ryuji demanded, stomping over.

"Shh," Akira shushed, waving at him for silence. "That goes for all of you."

Makoto followed suit, watching the scene unfold with interest.

"Orpheus, please. We don't have to fight," the brunette girl, Yukari, was saying. "Come back to us. He...he's gone, but we're still here."

The Shadow shifted, gazing at the humans surrounding it.

"She's right," a woman with long, curly, red hair said firmly. "We were teammates once. We should be again."

"...whooooo?" the Shadow droned, speaking for the first time.

"I will, Orpheus," Souji said, stepping forward. "Come with me. There's no reason for us to fight. Not now, not ever."

"Foooooool..."

"I know." Souji's voice dropped to something Makoto couldn't catch, but a moment later, the Shadow transformed into a card and floated over to Souji, who plucked it from the air.

"Thank fuck," a man in a ball cap exclaimed. "I don't think I coulda killed him."

There were a few exclamations of agreement, then the group turned to them.

* * *

Akira still had some misgivings about the large group—about fifteen people, according to his count. One person was in a bear suit, though? And he thought he'd seen an android, also. The whole thing was just strange. The group didn't seem hostile towards them, at least, so he walked out to meet them.

A young woman with long, blue hair met them part way.

"Hey, you're—the Detective Prince!" Futaba said, surprised.

"Shirogane Naoto," she said, smiling at them politely.

"Dude, that's Risette!" Ryuji yelped, pointing.

The woman in question smiled and waved. "Kujikawa Rise! It's nice to meet you."

Introductions flew fast after that. Akira had difficulty following them all, but he did his best. Eventually, three of the newcomers pulled him aside. Akira recognised them as the leader, Seta, the detective, Shirogane, and a woman named Kirijo Mitsuru.

"So, you're the Phantom Thieves," Shirogane said, wasting no time. "You're the reason I came to Tokyo in the first place, you know."

Akira frowned. "Oh? Investigating us?"

She smiled faintly. "Exactly. Your MO had a little too much of the supernatural behind it. So, I called up some friends and came to investigate."

Seta nodded. "Once Naoto informed me what was going on, I called up Mitsuru-san and, with her help, we got everyone together and came to investigate."

"Are you here to arrest me?" Akira asked frankly, staring at Shirogane.

"Hardly," she assured. "We're here because we did a bit of digging ourselves and didn't like what we found. We're on the same side in this."

Kirijo nodded. "My group is only here because of the unnatural reading coming out of this place. The moment Fuuka told me what she felt, I knew I had to tell the others."

"Unnatural reading?" Akira asked.

"Yes," Kirijo said, nodding. "At the moment, we can only guess as to the cause. Seta and his friends were nice enough to agree to investigate with us, though."

"So...you guys are two different groups?" Makoto asked, appearing at Akira's shoulder.

"That's right," Shirogane said, nodding. "Myself, Souji, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Rise, Kanji, and Teddie met up back in two thousand-eleven, when we were investigating a series of murders in Inaba."

"And my group, along with three other members who cannot be here today, was formed in two thousand-nine, when the Dark Hour was disrupting Japan."

"Dark Hour?" Makoto prompted.

"I think we have a lot to discuss, but no time right now," Kirijo continued. "Just suffice it to say that we were two groups formed out of necessity, much like you yourselves. I'd be happy to go into more detail later, but for the moment, there is simply too much to do."

"I agree," Seta said. "We need to get moving."

"...wait, but if you formed independently, how did you meet?" Makoto pressed.

"Would you believe time travel was involved?—I didn't think so," Kirijo said. "Long story short, we met up in an alternate dimension, back...before a lot of things happened. We've been working together since two thousand-twelve."

"Time travel?" Akira said, sceptical. How were they supposed to believe that?

"Listen, let's save it for later. Right now...I think we have a friend that needs help," Seta pushed. "Joker, have your group rest for now; my people can take care of the combat."

"We can still fight," Akira said. He was reluctant to display too much weakness to these virtual strangers and their crazy stories.

"Joker," Makoto said calmly, "let's let them handle it. We may be able to fight, but I don't think any of us really want to."

He could never say no to her, could he? Reluctantly, he nodded. "Okay. We'll follow in the van."

"Van?" Seta asked.

"Van. Mona!"

Morgana bounded over, from where he had been chatting with the newcomers. "Yeah, Joker?"

"We need a ride."

"You got it!"

And if he got a little satisfaction out of watching the surprise on their faces...well, who could blame him?

* * *

They were finally ready to move again. The whole team had piled into the car, and Akira was getting ready to shut the door when Shirogane stopped him.

"Excuse me. I was wondering if I might join you? We have quite a lot to discuss."

"Sure, come on in!" Ann said, before anyone else could get a word in. "Come on, Noir, move over!"

Shirogane squeezed into the seat beside them, and Akira shut the door, before taking shotgun for himself.

"We ready?" Makoto asked.

"Sure are!" Ryuji assured. "Though it's a bit crowded."

"Well sorry, Skull! Maybe you'd rather walk."

"Shut it, you stupid cat!"

"Would you two knock it off?" Ann demanded. "Naoto-san, right? Sorry for their antics."

"Oh, it doesn't bother me. Reminds me a bit of Yosuke and Teddie. I must say, this van is quite useful."

"I agree," Makoto said. "We should all thank Mona after—that means you too, Skull."

"I take fatty tuna as thanks!"

Akira smiled at the laughter that followed. Unfortunately, however, he found himself compelled to steer the conversation back to more serious territory.

"So, you wanted to discuss something, Shirogane?" he asked.

"Yes, actually. Souji thought it would be a good idea for one of us to ride with you, in case you had any questions."

Or to spy on them, but Akira didn't voice that thought. He didn't really think these people were going to harm them, but it was his job to be wary, just in case.

"I have one," Ryuji said. "The hell did you all come from? Like, I thought we were the only persona users in the world, then bam, you all just show up! And what's with the bear?"

"I think some searching would turn up quite a few more persona users," Shirogane said frankly. "For the past four years, I've been working with Mitsuru-san, Akihiko, and Aigis to investigate Shadow-related events across Japan. We never have any lack of leads to follow—yourselves included."

"Why?" Akira asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Why do all that?"

"Mitsuru's family is behind an outbreak of Shadows in the real world from nearly two decades ago. Ever since then, her family has made it their goal to investigate and control their population in the real world, as well as find and train persona users. Our main goal is to protect people."

"Is that why you came here? To save us?" Akira pressed.

"I hardly think you and your friends incompetent," Shirogane answered immediately, "so no...there's something else we're looking into."

"Are you going to tell us what?"

This time, Shirogane hesitated. "...I believe you were told that three members are missing from S.E.E.S? One of those members is a dog, whose advanced age made it safest to leave him home. Another of those members...was shot to death in a dispute between their group and another faction of persona users. The third is why we're here—and also why I am speaking to you, instead of a member of their group.

"As I'm certain you've all noticed, we also have a Wild Card in Souji."

Akira glanced back at that.

"...I had wondered. He only displayed one persona, but he...took that Shadow..." Makoto said slowly.

"Orpheus Telos," Shirogane supplied. "Orpheus was a persona of the third and final missing member of their group."

" _A_ persona?" Akira asked calmly. "Was?"

"If we had Souji, and your group has you, Joker, then it stands to reason S.E.E.S also had a Wild Card."

"That makes sense," Haru said softly. "But you said had. Where is he?"

"He passed away on March fifth, two thousand-ten."

Akira's brow furrowed. "So how does he relate to this?"

"That's what we're hoping to find out."

"So, you're here on your own agenda," Akira said firmly.

"I won't deny that. But if it helps you with your goal, this can only be beneficial for all of us."

"I, for one, am glad you came by," Haru said softly. "We were in trouble without you."

"Indeed we were. You appearance was most fortuitous for us," Yusuke agreed.

"Yes, thank you," Ann said, smiling. "You really helped us out there."

Shirogane blushed faintly. "Please, don't mention it. We only did what any decent person would."

"Still," Akira said, "you saved us. Thank you for that." Suspicious or not, that was no reason to forget his manners.

Besides, Shirogane had managed to alleviate most of his concerns. He still had quite a few questions, but for now, he'd respect that perhaps this was a touchy subject for Shirogane and her friends.

"You needn't mention it. I do hope we can all be friends here."

Friends. With adults. As nice as these people were, and for all their similarities...they were still adults. That was one concern of Akira's that no number of words could shed.

"Of course," Haru said. "We're happy to go along with you."

"Let's not forget our own mission," Akira said firmly. "We can travel together, but we still have a Treasure to take."

"Calm down, man," Ryuji grumbled. "This seems like a sweet deal to me."

"Joker's right," Makoto said firmly. "We cannot forget our goal."

Shirogane nodded. "Nobody wants you to. We'll help each other."

Akira hoped that would be the case.

* * *

 _Thanks for all the support so far, guys! I really appreciate it!_


	5. Chapter 5

_There's 3k words of nothing in this chapter. I apologise for that. If you want to skip this entire chapter, you will really miss out on nothing at all. I wrote it more as a writing exercise for myself than anything, and, frankly, if this were a longer fic, I wouldn't include it at all._

 _For those of you who enjoy filler...well, enjoy! For those of you who don't...sorry. No hard feelings if you skip it. XD_

* * *

Shirogane left, and not two minutes later, someone else was rattling at the van door. Ryuji yanked it open, revealing the smiling face of Amagi Yukiko.

"Hi there!" the friendly young woman said.

"Hi Amagi-san!" Ann greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Souji thought it would be a good idea for all of us to come personally introduce ourselves. Mind if I come in?"

"Sure, come on up," Haru invited, waving her in.

Akira watched her settle in with a small frown. He was still wary of these virtual strangers, but looking at his friends happily accepting Amagi, he could hardly complain.

He made up his mind, then. He would give them the benefit of the doubt, and set aside his own worries for the time being. With his mind made up, he tuned the conversation back in.

"—yes, that's right. The same one," Amagi was saying.

"Wow! We even talk about the Amagi Inn here! It's so cool you own it," Ann was saying.

"I don't own it. My parents do, though I suppose I'll inherit it someday."

"My father and I visited there, once last year," Haru said softly. "We were supposed to stay for a few days, but father got called away because of work. It was...nice, though. There was some sort of party going on while we were there..." She looked up, clearly thinking. "It was...a lot of fun."

Amagi snickered at that. "Seriously? My friends all came to visit last year—we always use the inn when they do. I bet that was us."

"Now that would be a coincidence," Yusuke said.

"When was it?" Ann asked.

"March."

Amagi laughed. "Y-y-yeah, that was u-us!" That was all she managed before breaking out in a fit of giggles.

"Uh...was it really that funny?" Ryuji muttered.

A rap on the door prompted them to open it, revealing a tall, muscular woman. "Sorry. She gets like this. I'll take her. C'mon, Yukiko."

"Bahahah, but Chie~!"

The girl called Chie rolled her eyes. "Let's go. Nice to meet you all, by the way, Satonaka Chie."

"It's lovely to meet you, Satonaka-san," Haru said.

"Please, Chie's fine." She smiled. "I work at the Inaba Police Department, with Souji and his uncle. Also, I babysit Yukiko in my spare time."

"You certainly seem to have your hands full..." Makoto said slowly.

Yukiko snerked. "Hear that, Chie? _I'm_ the handful."

Chie rolled her eyes. "Okay, let's go. You need to calm down."

Akira watched in silent confusion as the two women left.

"Well, that was...weird," Ryuji muttered.

"You get used to it! Yukari-chan and Chie-chan are always doing things like that."

"It's the bear!" Haru said excitedly.

"Oh, a most exquisite example of costume making!" Yuskue said excitedly. "What incredible craftsmanship. Tell me, who was the seamstress?" He reached for the costume.

"H-hey now! Don't go messing up my perfect fur with your uncouth hands!"

"U-uncouth?" Yusuke barked, clearly offended. "I'll have you know I was trained in art all my life!"

"Sheesh, is he always like that?"

"Pretty much...um, Teddie-san was it?"

"Just Teddie is fine, Haru-chan!" the bear all but sang.

"So, Teddie," Ryuji said, "why the costume?"

"It's not a costume! This is my fur!" Did this bear always get annoyed so easily?

"Oookay, so why the...fur?" Ann tried.

"I'm a shadow!"

That brought silence to the van.

"I'm...sorry?" Makoto prompted. "You're...a shadow?"

"Yes, please explain that bit," Akira continued firmly.

"I was un-bear-ably lonely in the world of shadows. When Sensei and Yosuke fell into the T.V. world, they became my friends. Then we met everyone else."

"...I'm sorry, T.V. world?" Makoto asked.

"Is that like the metaverse?" Yusuke asked almost on top of her.

"You mean like this world?" Teddie asked.

"Yeah," Ryuji said. "Like...where we fight shadows?"

"That's right! There was a goddess harassing—"

"Yo, Teddie, stop hoggin' the van."

Akira glanced over at the intruder, a well-muscled man with bleached hair.

"But Kaaaaanji—!"

"Enough. Out. Souji says you're probably just confusing them more."

If a costume could pout, the bear was pouting. "Sensei said that?"

"Oh, no Teddie, you don't have to leave," Haru said.

"Ignore him," Kanji said, climbing in and pushing the bear towards the door. "He's fine."

"Well, maybe you can explain what he means in telling us he's a shadow," Akira said.

"Huh? Oh, sure. That's because he is. He helped us out, though, so that makes him pretty cool in my book."

"And the...T.V. world?" Makoto asked.

"There's a story there. We had a killer in Inaba five years ago, who operated by throwing people into the television at midnight. It turns out it was a portal to the world of shadows. People would then be killed by their shadows if they couldn't accept them. Most...couldn't. At least, not without some help," he said, looking down.

"I guess that's not so much weirder than our own story," Ann said.

"But you guys were tackling the shadows of criminals...?" Kanji asked.

Yusuke nodded. "That is...correct. Most of the targets helped one or more of us out of bad situations."

"How about the rest of you guys?" Akira asked.

Kanji shrugged. "You means Arisato's team, right? S.E.E.S? I dunno, really. While we all awoke by ending up in the T.V. world, I think all of theirs were different? Some were forced into it, others wound up awakening due to tough situations. If you want more, ask them."

"I wouldn't, though," a friendly voice said from the door.

"Dude! Risette!" Ryuji yelped.

"Your turn?" Kanji asked. "Fine by me. Later."

Risette squeezed in as Kanji left, smiling politely. "Kujikawai Rise is my name, but please, just call me Rise."

"Okay, Rise," Ann said. "What were you saying...?"

She shrugged. "I just think you shouldn't ask anyone from S.E.E.S about their awakenings. I mean...they haven't even told most of us."

Makoto smiled warmly. "Of course, Rise-san. It's none of our business. I'm sorry for poking into your business."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it. Honestly, it's kind of nice to have even more people we can be honest with."

Ann chuckled. "That's true. For so long, I thought it was just us."

"So did we," Kujikawa agreed. "Then we met S.E.E.S, and it...changed a lot. I'm so glad we did, though. We...got lucky, too, meeting them the way we did. If we hadn't met them until after our awakenings, we never would have gotten to meet Aragaki and Minato-san."

"...Minato? Was he...?"

Rise nodded sadly. "He was a good leader. It's really too bad, what happened to him."

"...I'm so sorry," Haru said softly.

"It's okay. Just...don't mention him to any of them, okay? Not unless they bring him up first. Aigis and Yukari, especially. They...really miss him."

Akira nodded once. "I'll see to it they don't."

Kujikawa smiled. "Thank you. I think Fuuka's coming in next," she said, slipping to the door. "I'll let her know."

That left them a few minutes alone with their thoughts. Akira turned to Makoto.

"...it's a lot to take in, isn't it?" she asked softly. "If...we ever lost you."

"You won't," he said calmly. "We're all going to be fine."

The door opened, and a pretty young woman with light blue hair entered.

"H-hello. My name is Yamagishi Fuuka. I'm the navigator for S.E.E.S."

"Hello, Fuuka! Can I call you Fuuka? You can call me Oracle! I'm the navigator for our group."

"Yes, I noticed. Your persona is quite unique."

"Who, Prometheus? Yeah. He gets the job done."

Makoto smiled at Akira. "They're hitting it off."

"Good. They'll need to work together," he replied.

"Hm? Oh, yes, it's Rise," Yamagishi was saying as Akira returned his attention to her. "Yes, she's an excellent navigator. She usually handles the mapping, while I focus on combat."

"That's a really good system. It would be so much easier if I could focus on one thing..."

"You wanna come out and try it?"

"Do I! Hey, Joker, I'm going navigating with Rise and Fuuka!"

Akira sighed as the door slammed. She could have at least pretended to ask.

"...they have got to stop _doing_ that!" Morgana complained.

A moment later, it was wrenched open again. "Heeey!" The ball cap wearing man shoved his way inside. "Call me Junpei."

"Hey Junpei! You can call me Skull."

"Oh great," Morgana complained. "Two of them."

"That mask is freakin' awesome!" Junpei said. "All of them are, actually."

"We use them to summon our personas," Ann said.

"Actually, I noticed the other group uses cards," Makoto chimed in. "How do you guys do it?"

Junpei grinned at that. "By shooting ourselves in the head."

Silence. Eventually, Yusuke ventured. "I...am sorry. Did you say you shoot yourselves in the head?"

"Is that the guns you all carry?" Haru asked.

"That's right," Junpei said drawing it. "It's not a real gun."

To Akira's great dismay, he proceeded to pull the trigger. A loud pop sounded, but no bullet was fired. After a moment, he settled back from the half-lunge he'd shifted into.

"How does it work?" Haru asked, clearly curious.

"I don't really know. It's really helpful, though. We just gotta think our lives are in danger, and bam! Persona! Mitsuru's company made them just for us."

"Excuse me, Junpei," Makoto said. "But you said they were made in...our world? Does that mean...could they possibly work there?"

Junpei actually hesitated at that. "...shadows don't only appear in their own world, or this one."

That brought a sobering silence to the van. The implications of what Junpei had just told them were a lot to consider, and Akira was no exception. If their enemies got their hands on that sort of power, could they cause mental shutdowns without accessing the metaverse? With Akechi gone, they had lost a lot of clout, but there was still so much he and his friends didn't properly understand. What could they do, even without him?

"How many people are aware of this power?" he finally asked.

"Not many, and fewer have access to it. Mitsuru's group has kept a pretty tight lid on the technology and research."

"You're sure of that?" Akira pressed.

"Yeah. We barely got to keep our own Evokers after Tartarus fell."

Tartarus? He made a point to come back to that later. "So—"

The door opened. "Stop hogging all the time, Junpei!" A young, brunet man muttered, shoving inside. "My turn."

"Yeah, yeah. Just lemme out, Ken! Good t'meetcha, Skull!"

"See ya, Junpei! We gotta talk more later!"

"Right!"

The door closed, and Ken sat down. He looked to only be about their age, and by far the youngest member of the newcomers.

"I'm sorry to bombard you with questions, Ken, but Junpei was just busy telling us about your...Evokers?" Makoto prompted gently.

"Oh, sure. What did you want to know?"

"I wanted to know who knows about this technology. It could be dangerous in the wrong hands," Akira said.

"You think we don't know that? The Kirijo Group keeps a very tight grip on all of its research. We're the only people you'll find with them. My friends and Souji's group, I mean. We gave them some, after we started really working together."

"Do you have some for us?" Ryuji asked excitedly.

"Uh, no. We weren't really expecting to meet anyone else in here, honestly."

"Can we have some?" Ryuji pressed. "It would be really cool to be able to summon our personas in the real world!"

Ken frowned. "That's up to Mitsuru, I guess. But like...don't count on it. She barely let us keep ours, and she doesn't know you..."

Akira frowned. So, he wasn't the only one with concerns. He supposed that that was reasonable. They weren't even giving out their real names.

"If you keep that attitude up, Skull, I wouldn't give you a pair of chopsticks!" Morgana grumbled. "And I don't even have thumbs to use them."

"Shut it, Mona!"

"Uh...yeah. Oh! Akihiko's here!" Ken all but jumped out of the van, nodding politely to his friend as he did so. The grey-haired, muscular man who was coming just raised a brow and sighed, climbing in.

"Sanada Akihiko," he said politely.

"Can we see your Evoker?" Ryuji asked.

"Drop it, Skull," Akira said firmly.

"You suck, Joker."

Akira sighed. "Just leave it. We have no right to ask that of them."

"No, really, it's okay," Sanada ventured, drawing it and handing it to Ryuji. "Here."

"Sweet. So I just—like this?"

"Skull!" Ann yelled, alarmed, as Ryuji raised the nozzle to his head and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

"What the—? It doesn't work?" Ryuji muttered, staring at the gun.

"Skull, that was a stupid thing to do," Akira grumbled.

"Oh, lay off, Joker. You wanted to try it, too."

"We are inside the van right now. If you had actually summoned your persona, what then? You could have seriously harmed Mona, or any of the rest of us! Think before you act!" he snapped right back.

"...sorry, Joker," Ryuji finally muttered.

Sanada reached out, plucking the Evoker from Ryuji's hands. "There's more to it than that. Mitsuru can teach you if she wants."

It always came back to that Mitsuru woman... Akira had a lot of questions for her. As if reading his mind, Sanada leaned out the window and hollered, "Mitsuru! You're up."

It was the tall, redheaded woman that fell back to join them.

"You're Kirijo?" Akira asked as she climbed into the van, squeezing in beside Sanada.

"I am. It's a pleasure to meet you...Joker." Clearly she didn't care for the alias. Or perhaps she just didn't like not knowing his real name. She did seem the sort to not want to relinquish control.

Then again, neither did he.

"Likewise," he said politely. "I had a few questions for you, actually."

"I imagine you do. I may be able to help, but I make no promises."

"Can you teach us to use an Evoker?" Ryuji asked.

"I could, yes, but for the moment I see no reason to. You've all proven perfectly capable of summoning your personas on your own."

The disappointment in Ryuji was almost palpable. "Aww, man..."

"Perhaps you can tell me what this place is?" Akira asked, ignoring him. "I heard it called Tartarus, but it seems to stem from Mementos..."

"Tartarus? Yes, I suppose that would be a fitting name. Tartarus was the tower that came to be with the summoning of Nyx. It's where we fought most of our battles seven years ago."

"...that's right," Sanada said. "They do...have a similar feeling to them, don't they?"

"Is that so surprising? If he really is involved..." Kirijo said softly.

"Is that really in doubt, now? I mean, we all saw Orpheus."

"Orpheus is just a shadow that was a persona. I don't think that seeing it proves anything."

"Doesn't it? Shouldn't it have faded from being when he died?" Sanada pressed.

"Perhaps. There is still too much we don't know," Kirijo finally consented.

"Then we'll just have to keep going," Sanada said, nodding firmly.

Kirijo smiled weakly. "Indeed."

"Is that really why you're all here?" Makoto asked slowly, a small frown on her lips that Akira knew was uncertain disapproval. "Chasing a...ghost?"

Oh, that explained the disapproval.

"Perhaps," Kirijo agreed. "Perhaps it's a fool's errand. Perhaps it's just a dream...but one way or another, we have to know."

"Yeah, we do," Sanada agreed. "We lived through hell together, but not all of us made it back. We just...have to know. And if this is a fake using his name? Well, we'll put that shit down." The words were soft, but somehow Akira knew they were spoken with unwavering conviction.

"If that's all, I should go speak to Seta about our course," Kirijo said.

"Yes, I suppose so. Thank you, Kirijo-san, Sanada-san," Akira said.

After they'd left, no one came for a few minutes, until the door opened revealing the android. Surprised, Akira blinked at her—it?

"Hello, Phantom Thieves," it said. "My name is Aigis, and this is—"

"Takeba Yukari," another voice said, leading his gaze to the brunette woman from the earlier battle.

"Come on in," Ann said, motioning them inside. "We saw you fighting earlier, Takeba-san. You were amazing!"

"Not really," the woman said modestly. "In fact, I was sort of a fool."

"Hardly, Yukari-chan. You are emotional. I think that is to be forgiven."

"Thanks, Aigis, but Souji was right. I need to calm down." The woman sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Anyway, we just came because I wanted to thank you for helping us on this mission. It's...going to be hard. When we find him, though...please leave it up to us. Whatever happens...this is our battle."

"...you guys don't have to do it all by yourselves," Haru said softly. "That's...so lonely."

"No, we do. You can't understand, but we do."

"I agree," Aigis said. "This was our biggest failure. Let us right it."

"Dude, if we can help you fight, you should let us. This is a team effort," Ryuji pressed.

"Leave it." Though Akira spoke only two words, his team's protests stopped immediately. "This is their battle."

"Thank you," Takeba said, sending him a weak smile. "I hope that we can all get to know one another better when this is all over."

"...me too," Ann said softly.

Once Aigis and Takeba had left, Akira let out a soft chuckle. "So...twelve people and a robot? And that's not even all of them." There was the leader, Seta, and the guy who was always following him around.

"Our group got quite a bit larger. I fail to see how that can be anything but beneficial," Yusuke said.

"Unless their only goal is to prosecute us," Akira countered.

"C'mon, you can't really think that true," Ryuji muttered.

"No, I don't," he admitted. "But be careful nonetheless. Stick to code names only."

"No shit, Joker," Ryuji said, snorting a laugh. "That's what we always do."

A rap at the door drew his attention. Ann pulled it open, revealing Seta and his friend.

"Just came to check up on you guys. That and Yosuke," he gestured to his friend, "wanted to meet you."

"Famous Phantom Thieves, huh?" Yosuke said, grinning. "You're all over the 'net."

"Thanks," Ryuji said. "Those are some...pretty sick glasses."

Akira snorted.

"So, Joker, how is everything? You guys feeling any better?" Seta asked.

His teammates were quick to insist that they were feeling much better. They had been resting for well over an hour at this point, having descended three more floors.

"You heard them. We're a lot better," Akira replied.

"Good, glad to hear it. Take your time resting for now; you guys already did a lot."

Seta was turning to go when Akira stopped him. "Hold up, I'm coming with you." He'd had enough sitting around while others fought the battles. "Queen, take over in here."

"Right, Joker," she agreed. "Be careful."

"Aren't I always?" he asked, grinning. Hopping out of the car, he followed Seta back to the front lines.


	6. Chapter 6

As they were exiting the van, a beep went off. For the first time, Akira noticed a bluetooth receiver in Seta's ear. As he watched, Seta reached up and tapped it.

"Yeah, Rise? Hm? Okay, sure. Great work." He tapped it again, then turned to Akira.

"Your navigator says there's something called a safe room up ahead? I assume you know what that is."

"Yes. We can rest there—now," he said distractedly, examining the earpiece, "technology doesn't work in the metaverse. How...?"

"The Kirijo group has been working for years to develop electronics that work in the Shadow world. They made it."

That would be...unbelievably useful, Akira noted. It was too bad they probably wouldn't be able to come back here after today. Or, rather, that they didn't learn about all of this months ago.

"Over here, Souji!" Amagi called, waving them to the safe room door.

"...this door," Takeba muttered as they approached. Akira nodded to himself. He hadn't noticed before, but it was different from the other doors on the floor. Instead of engraved stone, it was simple, wooden panelling, "it's..."

"Let's open it," Aigis said softly. "To be sure."

Takeba nodded, then pulled the double doors open, revealing the interior they'd all become used to from the previous two safe rooms. Akira watched closely as she let out a long, sad sigh.

"Yukari, is it...?" Ken asked.

"Yeah. It's the dorm," she said quietly.

"Fuck," Junpei muttered. "Never thought we'd be back here like this."

"So, what's the function of these...safe rooms?" Seta asked, arms folded.

Pulling his attention from the doorway, where more and more people were crowding, Akira replied, "They're a good place to rest. We also use them as meeting points, just in case we ever get split up. Shadows can't come inside."

"How d'they work?" Akira had forgotten that Yosuke was following them.

"Mona says they're a place where the palace's ruler's delusion is weakened. They usually more closely resemble the normal appearance of the room they're in than the rest of palace does. Then again, normally, a palace is in a...normal building..." Akira explained. He had no idea what this palace was supposed to be. Or where.

Seta nodded towards Takeba and Ken. "Strange, because from the pictures I've seen, that room is a perfect replica of the common room in the dorm they all once shared."

Akira frowned at that. "So...why is it a safe room, then? I really doubt we're inside their dormitory," he mused aloud.

Seta chuckled sadly. "Perhaps the...ruler simply wills it."

"Are we goin' in, partner?"

"I don't think we can afford to take the time," Seta said.

"We always take a break in the safe rooms," Akira said, sending Seta a pointed look. "My team looks forward to these."

"Normally I'd agree, but with your team resting on the back lines, and my team plenty big enough to handle constant rotations, I don't see the need. Maybe if we weren't so pressed for time, but it's getting late, too," Seta said patiently.

Akira felt a flash of annoyance. What, were the Phantom Thieves just a burden to this guy? They could handle their own combat.

"Fine, you go on ahead. We'll stay here, then catch up." There was some deep part of him that didn't want to acknowledge that his own stubbornness was unnecessary, and that Seta's words made sense. This was their mission, and this was what they did. He didn't want some other group coming and telling him what to do.

Especially not a group of _adults_.

Seta shook his head. "I can't agree with splitting up the group. Your people are too tired, and from here on out, it's only going to get worse. The shadows will be stronger and more plentiful, and—I just can't, in good conscious, leave you behind."

 _Can't agree with_? "Who put you in charge, exactly?" Akira challenged calmly, keeping his gaze firmly set on the safe room door. Seta didn't know these palaces the way Akira and his group did.

"Yosuke," Akira could hear the frown in Seta's voice, "go check in with Yukari, please. This has to be hard on all of them."

"Right, partner," Yosuke said, hesitating only a moment before the sound of footfalls marked him walking away.

"Listen, Joker," Seta finally said, after a moment of tense silence between them, "I'm not here to usurp your authority, or to question the strength of your team. I am here to keep my team, and yours, alive and well, and to put an end to this as quickly as I can. Not only that, but those people, over there?" Akira's eyes followed him, to where S.E.E.S had bunched up, talking quietly with a few of the other people. His own team had even left the van, and were wandering over, concerned. "There are a lot of painful memories wrapped up inside that room, ones I'm not sure they're up to facing—at least, not today. Not on top of everything else that's going on. I can't, in good conscious, ask this of them. It's too much all at once."

For the first time, Akira really let himself see the distress on their faces, in their movements, and forced himself to acknowledge that Seta probably knew something he didn't. "You're...right," he admitted. "It's not fair to demand any of you stop here for our sake. So I stand by what I said: go on ahead. We'll catch up."

Seta was already shaking his head. "Joker, please understand. If this is _really_ Minato's palace, I can't take any risks; I want everyone to stay together for safety reasons. Your team knows these palaces in a way my team doesn't, and your input is invaluable. Your team is also exhausted, Joker. So...I'm sorry, but for everyone's safety I just can't allow that."

"Allow? For someone who claims he didn't come to take charge, you're pretty free with the orders," Akira pointed out. He wasn't angry, exactly, but he still didn't fully trust these people. The Phantom Thieves had come this far on their own— _without_ the aid of adults.

Seta sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. But for everyone's safety, I'd still prefer to stick together. So please, Joker, be reasonable," he asked calmly.

Akira took a deep breath...and a piece of his own advice: he calmed down. His team would follow him if he refused—Akira thought, at least, but if he really stepped back and thought about it critically, he knew Seta was right. He couldn't risk lives for the sake of stubborn pride. With reluctance, he nodded. "Fine, okay. Let's...keep going."

Seta nodded, speaking into his earpiece again. "Yosuke, we're moving on. Send the front line to advance."

Not a word passed between them as they walked together near the front, just behind the advance team. Akira hated that he had to admit that he was being sort of...petty. After all this time, doing what adults couldn't—or wouldn't—do, he had difficulty admitting that these adults, despite being new to the idea of palaces, were more experienced than he was.

"I meant it, you know," Seta finally said. "I want to work together. Our friendship will benefit our teams more than some petty rivalry. So, think we can be friends?"

Akira eyed the hand Seta had outstretched, clearly offering a handshake. He took it. "I agree. We need to work together. You'll have to give me time on that...friendship, thing, though. It's nothing personal, but...you're a cop, aren't you?"

"Detective," Seta offered.

Akria nodded. "Detective, then. Either way, you'll have to forgive us if this all just seems...off. It's nothing personal, we just—" He sighed. "I'll try, okay?" But he barely knew Seta and his friends, and some of them were cops and it was just...difficult, after so long alone.

Seta sighed. "Fine, I'll try to respect that."

"Thank you," Akira replied politely.

* * *

Souji led the way in silence after that. It was difficult, trying to convince this highly-suspicious young man that working together fully was in everyone's best interests. It was obvious that "Joker," as he called himself, wasn't likely to take advice or help from him willingly. Why that was, Souji didn't know, but he would just have to try and prove his goodwill through actions, not words.

...Joker. He wasn't hard to get a read on. An alpha male, with a bit of an exhibitionist in him, the teen also distrusted—adults? Strangers? Other persona users? Just him?—Souji wasn't totally certain. What he was certain about, however, was that while being willing to work with them, Joker was miles from trusting them fully.

Well, Souji had worked with worse. The kid at least had a good head on his shoulders, and a strong desire to protect his friends. That would have to do, at least for now. Souji had worked with worse.

He had joined his uncle on Inaba's police force two years before, and since then he had seen a few kids like Joker—kids who were smart, but scared. Wary. Patience and the right attitude—not to mention honesty—often brought them around. He figured Joker was much the same.

Too bad they didn't have _time_.

"Hey, partner?" Yosuke's voice crackled in his ear. Right. He'd sent his boyfriend away. Yosuke probably wanted to know what was up. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," he replied. "Head to the front lines for now. I'll catch up soon."

"...right. Be careful."

Souji smiled to himself, glancing over at the silent figure walking easily beside him. That had given him an idea. Sometimes, actions spoke louder than words. Plus, if he was right about the kid's fondness for attention and acclamation, then just maybe...

"Hey, Joker?"

"Seta."

"Wanna kill some shadows?"

* * *

"Hell yeah! Nice shot, partner!"

"Joker, don't you dare let him one-up you, man! Come on!"

Yukari rolled her eyes at the spectacle. Stupid alpha males and their dumb ass competitiveness. Still, at least the two teams' leaders were getting along now. Sort of.

"Beat that, Joker," Souji taunted as he used Alice to annihilate five shadows single-handedly.

The one called Joker frowned. "Next fight, my turn," he challenged back.

"If you can handle it," Souji replied.

"I'll show you what I can and can't handle."

Despite the heckling, though, it was clear the two were enjoying themselves, and with their friendly competition, the exploration had proceeded with record speed. The past two floors had passed blindingly fast, and Rise said they were nearing the stairs on this floor.

The next fight was over just as quickly, the two wild cards tearing through the shadows with brutal force. The next few fights went as quickly, and before they knew it, they were standing before the door to another of those so-called _safe rooms_.

Pausing, she gazed at the door. It brought back so many memories.

"We gonna stop?" Oracle asked, pausing by Yukari's side to gaze up at the door.

Joker glanced at Souji, who sent Yukari a reassuring look and shook his head. "We'll keep going. Let's get another front line up first, though. I could use a break," Souji said.

"Guess not," Joker said. "Take a break if you need one, though. There's three of you, now."

"I know! Isn't it great, Joker? Rise and Fuuka really know their stuff. They've taught me a few tricks."

Joker smiled softly. "That's great, Oracle."

"Okay, enough time wasted. Move on," Souji said.

With one last glance at the doors, Yukari followed. She didn't need to go in there. Not even a little bit.

Ken, Aigis, Chie, and Kanji moved to the front lines, Joker, Yosuke, and Souji following immediately behind them. The navigators followed the leaders, their personas glowing faintly in the dimness. The rest of their teams came next, followed by the Phantom Thieves in their weird van.

Yukari made a point of sticking close to their leader, keeping half an ear on their conversation. It was because of that fact that she was right there when Souji stopped dead with a shout, " _Halt_!"

The group froze, waiting with baited breath while Souji listened intently on his bluetooth receiver. Much to Yukari's surprise, the exchange ended in Souji swearing. Loudly.

"Yukari, Rise come with me. Give Joker your receiver first. Joker, stay here and wait on my word to come. You're in charge while I'm gone."

Joker tried to protest, but Yukari had shoved her earpiece into his hands and bolted after Souji before he could get a word in.

They met the advance team at the end of the hallway, which opened into a massive room. In the centre of the room stood a lone figure, unmoving.

"Not a single trace?" Souji was asking Rise, who shook her head.

The figure was dark, too dark, but as Yukari squinted, something felt...familiar...

"Joker? Listen carefully," Souji was whispering. "I need to you send the others down, little by little, but be quiet. Send S.E.E.S first—no— _no_. Joker! Stop. Just do it. Okay, okay. Good. Yes. That's right."

Yukari squinted. Something...

* * *

Akira grumbled to himself as Seta cut the line. The man was infuriating. They had started getting along through the friendly competition and playful banter, but the minute trouble was spotted? He'd wasted no time in jumping back into control.

Begrudgingly, he followed Seta's instructions. Giving the orders to Kirijo's group first, he left them to sort themselves out while he went to inform his own team. Halfway to the van, the earpiece came back to life.

"Joker! Send me the navigators!"

Sighing, he turned back and waved Oracle and her little friend on. At the van, he quickly explained the situation, and led the remaining people towards Souji's position. As he pushed his way to the front, he caught sight of Souji, deep in discussion with all three navigators—Futaba was shaking her head.

Stepping up to the group, he frowned, tucking his hands into his pocket.

"Joker, good work," Seta said, nodding to him. "Oracle was just telling me that you've encountered a person without a reading before, near the entrance. Can you add anything?"

"We did," he agreed, squinting. "Yes, that's him. Ry—"

" _Ryoji_!" Takeba's yell cut across all pretence of stealth, as did the way she stormed out into the open. At her call, the rest of S.E.E.S jumped up also, drawing weapons.

"Ryoji? That's impossible," Kirijo said, racing off.

"I swear, if that's him—" Junpei growled.

Joker made to follow, only to be stopped by a tight grip on his jacket. Glancing over, he spotted an angry Seta.

"Anyone on your team immune to curse skills?" At his head shake, Seta sighed. "You can be, at least? Good. This is gonna be dangerous. I'm putting you on the front lines, if this comes to violence."

Akira frowned.

"No, Joker, not now. Just do it."

"Seta..."

" _Do it, Joker_ ," Seta snapped. "If they're right about this, and it comes to a fight, it's going to get ugly. Now come on."

Akira hadn't really been planning to argue, but Seta's insistence had him moving. Stepping up beside Takeba, he observed the blatant stare down that was occurring. Ryoji moved first.

"Yukari, Junpei, it's been a while."

"Yeah, about seven years since you tried to murder us," Junpei snapped.

"No hard feelings?" Ryoji asked.

"Very hard feelings, actually," Takeba said darkly. "Where is he?"

Ryoji ignored her, turning to Akira. "I warned you. Don't think numbers will save you."

"Ryoji!" Takeba yelled. "Don't ignore me. Where. Is. He?"

"You've come twelve floors now. Guess," Ryoji said.

"He's on the next floor," Takeba said, drawing her Evoker. "And here you are, in our path. Again."

Aigis stepped forward. "You are in our way."

Ryoji smiled then, and it was the most horrific sight Akira had ever seen. One minute, Ryoji was a person, and the next, he...changed. The form that ripped from his body was that of a massive demon, donned in a cloak of coffins. Its face was the bone-white of a skull, adorned with hollow, empty eyes.

"Thanatos!" Souji yelled. "Go back where you belong!"

The shadow laughed, speaking in a deep voice, "This is where I belong. Between life and death. Between you and the seal. Now die!"

Joker managed to hold his ground as the massive creature lunged for them. To his right, Souji fell in, his massive bastard sword held in a white-knuckled grip. To his left, Shirogane took up her stance, expression serious. Last was Takeba, looking utterly determined.

"Yukari, you need to handle the healing this time. Naoto, focus on damage. Joker, can you debuff it while remaining immune to curse?"

"I have Debilitate and Masukukaja on Satan."

"Perfect. Debilitate first. Let's go!"

Akira complied, summoning the persona and casting the spell. Thanatos' movements slowed noticeably, even as Akira felt his own speed up as Masukukaja settled over them.

To his right, Seta was barking orders. "Fuuka, give it a scan! I want its skills now! Rise, make sure no reinforcements try to join the fight. Oracle, I want you to see about leading a second group around and attacking from behind. Thanatos is too dangerous to fuck around with!

"Joker, you have Black Viper on that thing, right? See if you can get it off, but focus on debuffing it if you can. Naoto, it's weak to Blessing, so do what you can there—"

"Wait! I don't need to scan it to know it'll have Drain Blessing!" Fuuka's yell cut over them. "Minato built it, remember. He wouldn't have overlooked that."

"Right, good call Fuuka. Then let's focus on Almighty."

"It only resists slash!" Fukka called back. "You should be good if you avoid that, as well as Blessing and Curse!"

"Right!" Seta yelled back. "Lucifer!" Bufudyne hit Thanatos hard, exploding in a crash of ice.

"Shit, Souji!" Fuuka yelled. "Watch out, it has Door of Hades!"

"Door of Hades?" Akira asked into the earpiece.

"Right. It's an instant death spell," Kujikawa was the one to reply.

"That's why we have so many personas immune to curse, isn't it?"

"It's Almighty based."

Akira felt himself pale a little at that. Turning to Seta, he yelled, "We need to split up! If it gets us both...!"

"Right, I agree," Seta replied. "Get out and send me Mitsuru-san! Pick a few of your own and go around."

Akira nodded, breaking away from the group and racing away. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, stopping only once he'd rejoined the back line, where Futaba was deep in heated discussion with several others.

"Joker! Finally!" Futaba muttered, running over to stand behind him. "You pick them! They're all being mean!"

Akira glanced at the assembled persona users, who were all clearly vying to be included. His first instinct was to bring his own teammates...but one look at the members of S.E.E.S, and he was pretty certain he would have a mutiny on his hands if he did so.

"Queen, with me. Sanada and Aigis, you too. Junpei, Mona, come as backup."

"But Joker—" Ken protested.

He raised a hand. "You're weak to Curse, and specialise in Blessing, right? That won't help here. I'm sorry. Stay on the back line. We'll call if we need you."

Akira really expected further protest, but he reluctantly nodded. Returning the nod, Akira motioned to his selected team and raced off at the head.

The battle wasn't too difficult to skirt the edge of, the other four doing a fantastic job of keeping the shadow's attention on them. Once Akira was satisfied with their position, he nodded.

"Aigis, take a moment to get off as many buffs as you can. Makoto, I want you to focus on healing if we need it. Sanada, we're going for damage!"

"Hell yeah! Caesar!" Sanada yelled, summoning his persona. Akira wasted no time in following suit.

"Don't forget to debuff it, Joker," Seta's voice crackled in his ear. "I still need you."

"Right, Seta," he agreed. Truthfully, a moment of adrenaline had gone to his head, but at Seta's reminder, he switched back to his task, knocking Thanatos back with a Debilitate.

"Good. I want your team to focus on keeping it crippled. Be careful."

"Watch out!" Futaba's cry drew Akira's attention. Prometheus shimmered, lights flaring as a green dome settled protectively over them. Before his eyes, the entire battlefield shimmered with a blinding light that quivered and winked out, leaving spots in his vision. Blinking several times, he rubbed his eyes frantically.

"What was that?" he asked into the earpiece.

"That was Door of Hades," Seta replied. "Oracle, great job blocking that. You saved our butts."

"Aw, you know I did."

"Joker, order your teams to go all-out! We can't let it do that again."

"Got it," he said, turning to his chosen team. "Change of plans. All out offensive. Smash its face! Junpei, Mona, you too!"

They went to it with a will. Out of the corner of his eye, Akira noted that Seta had the rest of the backup teammates fighting too. It should have been chaotic, but Seta guided and synchronised their movements perfectly, keeping them from hitting one another in the fray.

Under the incredible onslaught, Thanatos was staggering back. Aigis did what she could to help their accuracy, but otherwise, they just had to do their best to hit it, despite its incredible agility.

It was hard, though, and nearly half of their blows went wide.

"A big one's coming!"

Fuuka's shouted warning put Akira on the defensive. They hadn't been in time, and Futaba couldn't use her Final Guard very often...

"Watch out!" Futaba's shouted warning had Akira moving. Grabbing Makoto, he shoved her down and jumped over her. If he died here, fine, but she would be okay...!

"Joker—!"

"I love you," he said softly, as the light shimmered...

...

"Enough."

It was one word spoken, but as Akira slowly reopened eyes he didn't remember closing, he noted the absence of the light. And the absence of his own death. Slowly, he sat up, a disgruntled Makoto slapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"Joker, I swear...!"

He waved once, motioning her to silence. That was the word of the moment: silence. Nobody was speaking. Nobody was moving. Nobody even seemed to be breathing.

He followed Sanada's gaze to the far side of the room. A lone figure stood there, posture slouched and hands dug deep in his pocket. Even Thanatos had stopped to stare.

"...Leader?"

Sanada's whispered word made Akira frown. Tapping his earpiece, he asked, "Seta? Who's that?" His group was closer.

"Come here," came the soft reply. "And be careful."

Brow furrowing, Akira gestured the others to follow him as he led the way at a sprint. Stopping beside Seta, he allowed his gaze to wander to where Takeba was standing, stiff as a board.

"Be ready for anything. This may be a trap or a trick," Seta said.

Akira nodded. That explained the air of apprehension in the room.

"It...it can't be," Junpei finally said. "This whole thing was just a wild goose chase!"

The figure began walking towards them slowly, the sound of heels on stone echoing in the silence of the large chamber.

"I can't do this again. Not another fake," Ken muttered. "Never again."

The figure, a blue-haired, young man about Akira's age, stopped a few feet from them. "Enough, Thanatos. Leave them."

The shadow shifted, then...disappeared, returning to its humanoid form. Ryoji sank to the floor without a word.

"...it's...actually you this time," Takeba said softly, clutching her bow tightly. "Isn't it?"

"This time?" the teenager asked, voice still unnecessarily soft.

"There was...a fake. Right after you died. Metis said...she said he was the manifestation of our regrets," Ken said thickly.

The figure shook his head. "That wasn't me."

Takeba let out a soft sob. "Minato?"

"Yes, Yukari?"

"It's...really you."

"Arisato..." Kirijo said. "I...we...are so sorry."

"I did what I had to do, Mitsuru. Only I could do it. Just like now."

Takeba barrelled forward, catching the newcomer in a hug. "I missed you so much."

Arisato made no move to respond to her whatsoever, simply stared at the lot of them. Eventually, Takeba pulled back. "I—sorry."

"Souji, what are you doing here?" Arisato asked. "And who are all of these people?"

"We came to find you, Minato," Seta said carefully. "And Joker and his friends here are...well, they're the new us, tasked with saving people who don't really want saving."

"A waste of time," Arisato said flatly. "Only I can do that. You can all go home."

Akira frowned. Only he could? Why was that, exactly?

"Minato? What are you saying? We're a team," Junpei said.

"Were. Now it's just me. Go home, Junpei. Go home and enjoy your lives, all of you. The lives you get to live. I'll take care of this."

"Hey!" Ryuji finally snapped. "I don't know what your deal is, but we can so do this! We were doing just fine on our own!"

"Really? Which one of you is the Wild Card?" Arisato asked.

"I am," Akira said, stepping forward.

"If you want to even start to handle this, you need to uncover the lie right in front of your nose. You too, Souji. Do it—or better yet, go home. I'll handle this." With that, the teenager turned and walked away, as slowly and steadily as he had walked up to them.

"Wait, Minato!"

"Leader!"

"Arisato!"

The cries of his friends followed him out, but Arisato never faltered.

Ryoji scoffed. "You don't get it, do you? He doesn't trust anyone anymore. And if he doesn't, neither do I."

"Shut it, Ryoji!" Junpei finally snapped. "What the hell is your problem, you damn bastard? He's our friend, and we thought you were, too."

"I tried to be, but you refused my offer. It's too late, now. I will protect him."

"Why?" Kirijo asked. "He's not in any danger from us, even you must know that."

Ryoji shrugged. "I'm supposed to keep people out. If he hadn't ordered me to stop, I'd attack you again."

"Why? Shouldn't you want him gone?" Sanada demanded.

"Hardly. You know full well I support his goals. We've been partners a long time, and I can stick around a long time more." He sent a look to Aigis.

"So doesn't his current status conflict with that?" Kirijo demanded.

Ryoji shrugged. "He'll return."

"No!" Takeba yelled. "You got him for seven years. Give him back!"

"That's his choice, and right now his choice is to pick up after those failures over there." Akira tensed as Ryoji looked at him.

"Help us." Those two words, almost a plea, uttered by Seta, drew Akira's attention. "Orpheus is, and so can you. We want to protect him, that's all. He's not himself, even you must see that."

"...help you how?"

"With this! All of it! We just want to save society," Akira cut in.

"Really? But it's my goal to destroy it."

"You never wanted that, Ryoji!" Takeba challenged. "You know that."

"Perhaps, but you failed to kill me, so here I am."

"Helping Minato!" Junpei yelled. "Admit it, you want to help us!"

Ryoji seemed to hesitate at that. "You know what? Find the truth...and perhaps I will. Until then, I'll stay right here. Guarding this hallway."

Several members looked ready to pick a fight, but at a barked command from Seta, they reluctantly stepped away, back down the way they'd come.

"And ideas, Joker?"

Akira shrugged. "I really have no idea."

"...me either," Seta muttered.

* * *

 _Sorry about the long wait; I was having...trouble with this chapter._

 _Now, a lot of people have asked why I'm not referencing events from Arena/2. The simple answer is, I just haven't played them. This story will only be using the events of Personas 3, 4, and 5, with some events of Q mentioned, for convenience's sake (mainly, the characters all knowing one another)._

 _I'm sorry if that's disappointing for anyone, but my own experiences aside, I feel that this makes the fic more accessible to a lot of the fandom, who won't feel like they have to have played half a dozen spinoffs just to enjoy the story. XD_

 _I hope everyone can enjoy it despite that._


	7. Chapter 7

_There are parts of this chapter that feel a little rushed and choppy. Sorry about that. I don't really enjoy rewriting scenes from canon material, which is what this is, because everyone knows what happened. I was more keen on focussing on the new things. :)_

 _Also, I was asked "why use Q if not Arena?" and the simple answer is this: Q is the only game I can use as a basis for Minato actually knowing the IT, because it's the only time they ever meet. If I wanted the IT to know Minato, Q was the_ _ **only**_ _choice I had. That's it. That's all. It's also why I opted to have everyone remember everything. Because it makes for a better story._

 _Lastly, I'm super sorry for any places where I mess up with the names. There are over 25 characters in this story, and they all use unique forms of address. It's happened, and it'll likely happen again. I'm sorry. If you think it's a mistake, it probably is. Just…try and read past it, please? I can only do so much. XD;_

* * *

In the end, they decided to warp out. It was not a decision made lightly, but it seemed the right one nevertheless. They were all tired, confused, hungry, and in need of a chance to step back and think objectively.

That, and Takeba had pointed out a green, glowing device nearby, that she had assured them would allow them to return to this floor without all the...walking. That had been good enough for Seta, and Akira had agreed.

Though, if Akira was asked, he would swear it hadn't been there before.

Now, they were all spread out across the floor in the square, taking a well-earned rest. Near Akira, Futaba and her two new friends were chatting, looking at something on Futaba's laptop. Junpei, Sanada, Kanji, and Ryuji had also grouped off, and were...oh, Akira didn't know. Comparing weapons or something? Even Ann and Haru were making fast friends with Teddie, Amagi, and Satonaka. Other groups had sprouted as well, the two groups mingling rather cohesively, he had to admit. He supposed that was a good thing.

Akira's attention was mostly on his own group, however. Makoto, Seta, Kirijo, Takeba, Yosuke, and Shirogane were seated on the floor a little ways off, talking seriously about the bigger issue.

"I'm afraid I just don't have enough to go off of," Shirogane was saying. "How are we supposed to find a lie that is under our noses? There could be many. Who is to say how many lies are told every day?"

Takeba shook her head. "No, it's not going to be something stupid. Minato wouldn't be warning us if it wasn't significant."

"I agree," Shirogane conceded. "So, in light of that, we should look at the facts that we have."

"Your...friend," Makoto began, "he was addressing Joker directly."

"Yeah, that's right. Him and Souji," Yosuke added. "Do you think that's important?"

"It's difficult to say," Kirijo said. "It could simply be because they are our leaders."

"No, no, I think they're on to something," Shirogane said. "He really did address Joker directly. That's too big a clue to pass over."

"Okay, so, do you have any ideas, Joker?" Yosuke asked.

"Not off the top of my head, no," Joker said, shrugging.

"We need to take this objectively, then," Shirogane said. "What makes Joker, and even Souji, different from us?"

"Souji has the orb of truth," Yosuke suggested.

"Orb of truth?" Makoto asked.

Souji sighed. "Had. It was a one-time deal, Yosuke. You know that."

"Sounds useful, though," Akira muttered.

"Undoubtedly," Shirogane said, "but hardly worth dwelling on. To answer the question with a real answer, they're both Wild Cards, and have the ability to summon multiple personas."

"That makes sense," Takeba said. "But I don't know how it's relevant."

"Maybe it was warning me that you're all illusions or fakes," Akira suggested, smirking lightly.

"Hey!" Yosuke snapped. Before he could get more out, however, Shirogane cut him off.

"No, that is interesting. Perhaps he simply wishes to sow discord within our numbers by making us doubt one another."

"No," Kirijo said, shaking her head. "That does not sound like Minato. He believed in a fair fight."

Shirogane paused, then nodded politely. "Of course. I apologise for my careless statement."

"Okay, then how does the whole," Yosuke waved one hand, "million personas factor in?"

"That is...a good question," Kirijo muttered, shaking her head.

Seta stood up quite suddenly, his gaze darting in the direction of the door to the Velvet Room. "You keep talking. I think I'll go have a word with Igor." Akira wasn't sure why he was so surprised by the revelation, but he visibly started at Seta's words, gaze snapping to the man. "You coming, Joker?"

It made sense. Of course it did. Seta was a Wild Card, too. Why _wouldn't_ he have visited the Velvet Room before? Steeling himself, he nodded. "Sure."

For some reason, only Makoto looked confused as they strode away.

Akira watched as Seta opened the door, then followed him inside. The interior seemed to flicker for a moment, before settling into the familiar cell. Seta sent him an unreadable look, but said nothing as they approached the bars.

"The failure returns," Igor accused, making Akira flinch slightly. "You failed at your rehabilitation, and even your second chance was a complete waste of effort. I think it's time I ordered your execution."

This was not at _all_ where he had imagined this conversation going. At his side, Seta was silent. In a moment of irrational fear, he wondered if maybe they were working together. Maybe Seta had been tasked with making him fail, then bringing him back here. He forced the thought away. He couldn't suspect Seta forever.

"Listen...!" Akira snapped, stepping up to the bars and grabbing them. "We haven't failed. We'll do this. We just need a little more time! Tell u—"

"Joker," Seta didn't raise his voice, or even sound particularly angry, but there was something, some unreadable note, in his voice that cut Akira off like a hot knife through butter, "let me."

When Akira didn't challenge him, Seta stepped up, eyeing the door critically. "I may not know all of the circumstances, here," Seta said calmly, "but I _do_ know one thing." He looked up at that. From what Akira could see of his profile, Seta looked furious. "You _are not Igor."_

Josephine and Caroline, who had been watching them intently until then, turned towards Igor—Igor?—with evident alarm.

"You look like him, but that's about as far as the resemblance goes, isn't it? You don't even know who I am. Tell me, where is he? If you harmed him, I'd start running now." Seta summoned a card, let it rotate once, then let it vanish without summoning anything. The threat was very clear, however.

Igor, for his part...laughed. "I had expected, if any would do so, it would be the attendant who would expose me. You must be a previous guest."

Akira glanced at Caroline and Josephine, who were exchanging a long look. Igor had said...attendant. Not attendants. What did _that_ mean?

"Where. Is. He?" Seta said threateningly.

"Why don't you ask the attendant?"

"Josephine, Caroline," Akira said. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

"I—I," Josephine stammered.

"Shut up, inmates!" Caroline snapped. "You will not confuse us like this."

"Caroline!" Josephine yelled. "Have you heard nothing he's said? This isn't—we aren't—"

Caroline tensed, then wrenched out the keys, jamming them in the lock and twisting it open. "Listen, inmate, you better not let us down."

Akira had to admit, he was completely surprised by the attitude shift, but he nodded quickly, leading the way out of the cell, and over to the desk.

"The lie right in front of us, huh?" Seta said softly. "I think we found it."

Akira was inclined to agree. Stepping up to the desk, he slammed his palms down on it. "Listen—"

The figure behind the desk clearly had no interest in listening, because he started...floating. Akira took a moment to compose himself, because frankly he was more than a little shocked.

"Get back here!" It seemed Seta didn't have the same reservations. "Tell me where he is!"

The figure laughed. "You may have found one truth, but you will never conquer death. I look forward to hearing of your failure."

"Izanagi—!" Seta's yell was cut off when the figure faded from sight. " _Shit_!"

The outburst surprised Akira, but he let it go, turning instead to the attendants. What he saw made his blood freeze. "Caroline! Josephine!" he yelled racing over to where they had set their own necks in the guillotine-literally. "What—what are you _doing_?" he choked out, not hiding his own fear.

"You must do this," Josephine said, not looking phased in the slightest. "Two are one, and to reunite, you must fuse us."

He felt his own brow furrow, lips twitching down in a deep frown. "No— _no_. That's—this is—ridiculous— _absurd_ —! I'm not going to—"

"Inmate!" Caroline snapped. "You must do this! Now!"

Meeting her eyes, his own wide, he reached for the lever with one shaking hand. He couldn't believe he was even considering this, but they seemed so...so _certain_. For perhaps the first time since he'd met them, they seemed wholly convicted in this one thing.

"Inmate! Do it!"

He pulled the lever.

* * *

Souji left Joker to his thing while he explored the room, seeking some hint of _Igor_. All he found were empty cells, their doors hanging askew with no hint of life. Pausing in front of the fifth cell, he sighed. This was a waste of time; they weren't here.

Closing his eyes, he tried to envision his _own_ Velvet Room. Maybe if he could return there, to the car, he would find Igor and Margaret, waiting to help him find the answers. When he opened his eyes again, however, it was to the same, stark prison. Well, it had been worth a try.

 _Shing!_

Startled, Souji turned towards the sound, instinctively summoning Izanagi's card. Before he could do anything, the guillotine-for that was the source of the sound—was concealed by light, then faded into the form of a young woman. Curious, he took a step forward, only to be distracted by yet _another_ light appearing out of the corner of his eye.

This one coalesced into the form of...

"Igor," he said, smiling in relief.

"Ah, the former guest returns in trying times." That was definitely Igor's voice, and smile, unnerving though it may be. "And the new guest."

"Joker," Souji called, "come meet Igor." For real this time.

The next few minutes were spent with frantic explanations and revelations that even Souji found interesting. Joker especially seemed interested in the discussion about Mona, the cat. At least they were working with the real thing, now.

"Igor," Souji asked, once all of the exposition was dealt with, "where is Margaret?"

It was Lavenza who answered, "My sister had an errand to see to. She will return when it has been completed."

"Is she with Elizabeth?"

Igor's smile widened, if that were at all possible. "So, am I to understand my former guest has returned, then?"

"...he has," Souji said with reluctance. "Or at least the appearance of him has."

"You believe him to be a fake?"

Glancing at Joker, Souji hesitated before shrugging. "He's dead. I know he is. I visited his grave. The others—they attended his _funeral_. How can we not doubt it?"

"What do you think?" Igor asked, turning to Joker.

"...he could be a cognition," Joker finally said. "Perhaps he isn't the palace ruler at all, it's—" Joker trailed off, brow furrowing. "Seta," the serious note in his tone really drew Souji's attention, "could...one of your group be causing this? Palace rulers, they can create incredibly convincing cognitions within their own palaces. If someone is... _remembering_ your friend, they could be creating the image we saw today."

Seta shook his head. "All of my group have their personas still." He didn't know all of the details of these palaces, but he knew enough to realise they had to be similar to what his own team faced. Someone with a persona could not create a palace.

So...why had Minato?

"Of course, right," Joker shook his head. "But...wasn't your friend a persona user, too? Maybe it's an old friend of his."

Joker had a good point, and Souji paused to consider it. From what he knew, Minato had been pretty popular at school, but his friends there shouldn't have known about Tartarus, right? But what about someone else?

"We should discuss this with the others," he finally said. "They knew him better than I did."

Joker watched him for a moment, then nodded. "Then...let's go. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better."

"In a moment. First...Igor, I'm sorry to have to ask this, but..." He took a deep breath. Asking this felt incredibly...invasive. If asked, he wouldn't have been able to pinpoint exactly why, but it was something deeply personal to him, and he felt like Minato—and even Joker—would probably feel the same way, "but can I see his compendium?"

Igor stared for a long moment. Souji met his gaze. "You will be unable to summon from it."

"I know. But if this comes to a fight, I...I need to be prepared."

"...I would normally not allow this, but I sense that Orpheus has loaned you its power. A tragedy, when a guest loses himself." As he was speaking, Igor waved a hand, and two compendiums floated onto the tabletop. "Yours and his. You may look."

Nodding his appreciation, Souji pushed his own feelings aside, took a deep breath...and cracked open Minato's.

* * *

Akira watched the stone-faced Seta flip through a book that easily rivalled his own in size. It was clear that Seta was uncomfortable, so he left him to it, turning to his own compendium and flipping through the pages aimlessly. He thought he'd made about as much as he could, certainly everything he needed, but he didn't want to intrude on Seta's moment. So, he skimmed the pages, not really paying attention, while Seta did...whatever it was he needed to do.

Eventually, Seta straightened, motioned to him, and left the room without a word. Nodding politely to Igor-and hadn't _that_ come a surprise. It seemed Minato had been right about the lie-he paused for a moment before following.

"Thank you, for your help. I don't know what he was looking for, but...yeah. Thanks."

"Mm," Igor hummed lightly. "The aid is given freely, to guests of this place. He is also a guest."

"I know, but even though I didn't know it wasn't you, before, I'm still glad you're here now."

Igor simply eyed him for a long while, before sitting back, hands folded. "Perhaps, but there is yet another you need to make amends with."

Was there? "Wh—oh." Nodding, he turned and followed Seta out.

"Wait, Seta," he called, just as they stepped out, but before joining the others. A lot had happened in that room, and one thing had been made apparent to Akira with crystal clarity: Seta wasn't his enemy. The man had taken his suggestions, even accusations, in-stride, had been nothing but helpful...and was clearly doing nothing but working towards this cause. That had to count for something, right?

Seta turned back, one brow raised in silent question. "Joker?"

"Akira," he said, before he could stop himself, or think better of it. Extending his hand, he offered a small smile. "I still need to ask you to call me Joker in here, but...it's Kurusu Akira. Akira, outside."

"Well, Joker," Seta replied, grasping his hand. "Then feel free to call me Souji."

It was in that moment that it happened. When Igor had returned, the last of his confidant rankings had gone up, completing the only one that had not already hit rank ten. What Akira had not expected was this.

The World Confidant awoke.

Momentarily speechless, he quickly collected himself and smiled back at Souji. "Right, Souji-san."

Souji broke the handshake, tipping his head towards their approaching friends. "I think we have some explaining to do."

Akira's smile turned wry. "Right. Let's go do that."


	8. Chapter 8

_/clears throat_

 _Life sucked for a while, but I trucked through and finally, finally got this finished. Hopefully, the final chapter will take significantly less time._

 _Thanks for all your patience. Please enjoy._

* * *

The trip back to the twelfth floor was as short as Takeba had promised it would be. After the visit to the Velvet Room, Akira and Souji had wrangled their teams. Lavenza had offered her assistance in replenishing their stamina, and Akira was relieved to note that it had helped his team's energy levels immensely. It was one large, very refreshed group that convened back on the twelfth floor.

"Do you think we'll be fighting Ryoji again?" Akira asked Souji and Takeba, as they gathered their weapons and readied themselves.

"...probably," Takeba said. "It's not likely he'll back off so easily."

"Let's go, then," Akira said. "Souji-san?"

"I'll take Naoto, Yosuke, and Yukari with me. Pick three and go around the other way."

Akira nodded, motioning Sanada, Makoto, and Morgana to follow him. Once they got to the room, Souji's plan was much the same as the previous assault. Once they got to their destination, they would split up and come at Ryoji from two sides. By dividing his attention like that, they would be able to lessen the chance that they'd all be wiped out in one blow. A risky strategy, but it was a risky fight.

"Joker," Morgana said as they ran. "I sense a treasure. My senses have been off for a while now, but I'm sure of it. It's on the next floor."

"Treasure?" Sanada asked.

"So this is a heist after all," Makoto commented.

Sanada frowned. "Wait—you guys told us a bit about your MO. You can't mean to—"

"We'll do whatever we have to," Akira muttered.

"It won't hurt him," Makoto assured.

"No, but it'll _change_ him."

"It'll remove his distorted thoughts. We're helping him," Morgana countered.

"Maybe in your mind..." Sanada said.

The speaker in his ear crackled, then came to life with Souji's voice, "Joker, come here."

Leaving the others to their debate, Akira hurried ahead. "What is it?" he asked, falling into step beside Souji.

"We're just about there. You guys ready? If you need more time, now is your last chance."

Glancing back at his group, Akira nodded once. "We should be."

"Let's go then."

The room was much as they had left it, complete with Ryoji standing in its centre, unmoving. Akira reached for his weapon, but the Shadow made no attempt to attack them, he simply waited in silence. Souji stepped forward. Takeba and Kirijo followed.

"Ryoji."

"Seta." Ryoji's gaze flickered to Akira, then back to Souj. "I see you figured it out."

"We did," Akira said. "Now, are you going to honour your promise?"

"Promise? I don't recall making a promise."

"We all know the implications, Ryoji. You said you would consider stepping aside if we found the truth, and we did," Souji pressed, "so either join us, get out of our way, or—" The threat was clear.

Ryoji strode over, straining slightly to meet Souji's gaze. "Fine. I can't betray him, but...I'll let you pass. Good luck."

It felt...too easy, Akira noted as Ryoji disappeared into the darkness. Turning to Souji, he said as much.

"We got a lucky break. This isn't going to be easy, Joker. Ryoji is nothing on what we might still face."

"Come on!" Morgana yelled, bounding over to them and jumping up. "Let's go get that treasure and put an end to this."

Following Morgana, they made their way quickly to the thirteenth floor. They burst through the door—and paused. Unlike the previous floors, this one had taken them to something resembling the outdoors, like...the top floor of a tall building. It appeared to be a single room, void of any other pathways, aside from the staircase they had emerged from, and any furniture.

Their target stood alone at the edge of the roof, leaning over the edge with elbows resting against the guard rail. He didn't even turn to look at them.

"Joker, look!"

Following Morgana's gesture, Akira nodded briefly in acknowledgement. Resting on the guard next to Arisato's elbow was a glowing form that could only be the Treasure.

"Think you can grab it?" he whispered to Morgana.

The cat laughed smugly. "Who do you think you're talking to, Joker?"

"Go on, then. We'll cover for you."

While Morgana scampered off, Akira followed Souji.

"Minato?" Takeba said softly. "It...is you, isn't it?"

 _Probably a shadow,_ Akira noted. The real person was...well, probably elsewhere.

"It's me, Yukari," Arisato finally responded, not turning to face them. "And you can tell your cat to leave that alone."

Akira frowned, gaze flickering to where Morgana had frozen, mid-step. Nodding once, to call Morgana off, he turned to look at Souji.

"Good," Arisato said. "Now you should all just leave."

"Why, Minato?" Souji asked softly. "We're your friends."

"I know, but you can't help—not with this. Just like none of you helped before."

"Like we—the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" Junpei snapped.

"I think you know," Minato said softly.

"No, I don't think we do. The hell's gotten into you, man? You're actin' all...weird," Junpei muttered.

"What's gotten into _me_? Take a look at _yourselves_ , coming here with a hero complex, thinking you can save the world—again—when it wasn't even you who saved it in the first place!" Minato replied, voice steadily rising into a shout. "Just take your new friends and... _go away_. I'll take care of this myself."

"Hero complex?" Ryoji yelled right back. "You're the one with a god complex! The hell makes you so special?"

"Careful," Souji whispered, but Akira didn't need the warning to move, catching Ryoji's arm before his friend could lunge forward.

"Don't. Let's stay out of this for now. There's enough hot blood without us getting involved."

Ryoji wrenched his arm away, then sighed and nodded once. Satisfied, Akira returned the gesture, then glanced back at Souji.

"Joker!" Morgana's voice hissed in his ear.

"I know," he replied to Morgana's warning. Things were clearly getting tenser by the moment. Junpei was all but bristling, Takeba was clearly torn between yelling and placating, and the rest of the group was little better. Only a few cooler heads, like Shirogane and Souji, seemed to have the presence of mind to really analyse the situation.

As he watched, Minato reached towards what was undoubtedly the treasure. The shimmering began to fade.

"Mona."

"Joker?"

"What happens if that isn't a shadow?"

"I...don't know."

"Can a dead man have a shadow?"

"No more than he can come back to life," Morgana countered.

"And the treasure?"

"Probably real too."

Minato's hand closed over the Evoker.

"This is not going to be good," Souji said softly.

Akira was inclined to agree.

* * *

Souji and Akira had prepped their battle strategy, with a great deal of help from Fuuka, ahead of time, as well as drilled their teammates on it. At the nod from Souji, everyone jumped into action.

They had broken the group down into five teams, each with their respective leaders. Naoto and Aigis led their teams of Yusuke, Akihiko, and Yukari; and Yukiko, Chie, and Ann, respectively, around behind Minato. Futaba joined them as acting support. Meanwhile, Mitsuru's and Ken's teams of Morgana, Ryuji, and Junpei; and Kanji, Teddie, and Haru, respectively, stayed with Rise at the front.

Lastly was Akira's own unit, containing himself, Souji, Makoto, and Yosuke. They hung back for the moment, waiting on word from the other units. A little ways off, Fuuka had entered her persona, and kept her focus on the battle, where Kujikawa and Futaba were undoubtedly keeping her well-informed.

"Leader," Fuuka's voice crackled over the earpiece, addressing Souji. Akira listened intently anyway, "something doesn't feel right."

Souji's voice came a moment later, sounding in both of Akira's ears; one over the headset, the other because they were standing side-by-side, "How so?"

"He's stronger than this. It's too...easy," she replied.

A quick glance at the battlefield revealed that she was right. Their four teams were handling the battle with a brutal efficiency, working under the guidance of Kujikawa and Futaba. They worked like a smoothly-running machine, with one team jumping onto the offensive, one team focussed on distraction, one team doing preparatory work, and the final team resting. They rotated through, keeping out of one another's way, and protecting each other at the same time.

"Maybe because he's outnumbered sixteen-to-one," Akira countered, jumping into the conversation. That was generous, too, because it ignored his own team and the navigators. Really, it was twenty-three-to-one.

"You don't know him, Joker," Fuuka's voice said quietly.

"Then let me try. Souji-san? Makoto?"

"Hey, man, I don't think that's a good idea!" Yosuke protested, moving towards him. "Partner?"

"Yosuke's right, Joker. Our job is support. We need to stay back until someone needs help," Souji said reasonably.

Hesitating, Akira nodded. They knew more than he did, and if they thought that they should stick to the plan, he agreed. Really, he did. Souji knew his stuff.

"So, what are you worried about?" Akira tried instead, speaking into the headset. Of the five of them, she knew him best.

"He just...he's stronger than this. Or...he used to be."

"He's really outnumbered," Makoto pointed out reasonably. "Joker is strong, but I wouldn't expect him to handle this well, either. It's too much."

And it _was_. Under the onslaught of sixteen people, Minato was forced to fight a purely defensive battle. He had pulled out the persona Yoshitsune, and was playing defensive game of making it next to impossible to hit him. He kept buffing his own agility, and between that, Ali Dance, and Yoshitsune's numerous immunities, getting a hit off was incredibly difficult. Despite the evasion, however, he had little time to actually _counterattack_ .

"No—it's not—you don't understand! This is nothing! He can—!" she said, voice a touch frantic.

"Shh, calm down," Akira said soothingly. "It's okay. Whatever it is, we're all here to face it together. We can do this." They did, after all, outnumber him by a significant margin.

"Are you sure, Joker? He hasn't..."

"Yes. We haven't failed, yet. We'll win, and we'll save him."

Before they could say more, a flash of light drew their attention back to Minato. He stood at-ease, a large, white persona, one that looked strangely akin to him but wielding a string of coffins, hovering behind him.

"Messiah," Fuuka said with urgency, immediately going into details for Futaba and Kujikawa to relay to their team leaders.

"He's a World Class persona," Souji warned, expression grim. "Looks like the gloves are coming off. Do you have one?"

Akira shook his head. He had only just awakened that confidant, and he'd never seen a persona from it. Until now, anyway.

"Right. Well, they're more powerful than most, but you should be fine. Just give me support. I'm going to go counter that one."

Curious, Akira drew his weapon and followed.

"Hey, Minato!" When the teen's gaze drifted to them, Souji smirked. "You're not the only one who can do that. _Izanagi-no-Okami_!"

It was another World persona, of that Akira was certain. For an instant, two would-be gods clashed, and then both faded from view.

"Nice try, Souji, but you'll have to try harder than that." Minato twirled his gun, lifted it to his head...and pulled the trigger.

And then everything happened at once.

Minato's head rocked sideways, flopping as though his neck were broken.

Two—not one, but _two_ —hazy figures ripped from Minato.

Fuuka's voice ripped through his ear, screaming an incomprehensible warning of pure panic.

The room lit up like the outer layer of the sun's plasma.

Akira heard a voice, probably his own, shrieking Futaba's name.

Screaming.

The light closed in.

Darkness.

* * *

Everything hurt, that as the first thought that came to mind as Akira's brain tried to make sense of what had just happened. On shaking limbs, he clambered back to his feet.

"The _fuck_ was that?" Yosuke exploded, kneeling beside Souji and tugging his friend up.

"Armageddon," Fuuka's voice was shaking—and goodness, but was she actually _crying_? "My gosh—he—he's actually—he's really trying to kill us!"

Akira rushed over to help Yosuke with Souji, who had been closer to the blast. Taking his other side, he glanced at the older man. "Souji—?"

"Never—uh—ah!—um, seen that—never seen—not befo _oore_! Shit! Fuck. That stings."

"Joker! Good, you're okay. I—I tried." Even Futaba sounded shaky. "I tried to get the barrier up, I thought I did—but _damn_."

"It's okay, Oracle," he assured, though it felt anything but. "I saw it go up. That...whatever that thing was, it hit right through it, somehow."

"No, it didn't," Fuuka said quietly, her voice still shaky and hoarse. "If it had, we'd all be dead. Your barrier blocked most of it. You saved us, Oracle." Somehow, the reassurance sounded hollow. How strong _was_ he, to hit them that hard, clean through Futaba's barrier?

"Well, that's...reassuring," Makoto muttered. "And if he does that again? He can wipe us all in one move."

"We need to negotiate. _Now_. Joker, get me Yukari," Souji ordered.

Akira didn't hesitate. Helping Yosuke lower Souji back to the floor, he raced off, already calling into the headset to have Futaba tell Naoto to send her towards them. She agreed, and Takeba met him partway. Together, they hurried back to Souji.

"Yukari! Can you talk to him?" Souji pleaded. Actually _pleaded_. At least he was back on his feet. "About—I honestly don't care what. Anything. Just distract him."

"R-right. On it."

While she rushed off, Akira exchanged a look with Souji. Regrouping wasn't going to cut it. Never in his life, not even when he had been on trial for a crime he had not committed, had Akira felt so utterly helpless. Judging by the look on Souji's face, he wasn't feeling particularly confident, either.

"I think I might need your help with this palace," Akira joked weakly, trying to lighten the mood. Obviously Souji and his friends were already helping, but the words felt...necessary.

"I think that goes both ways, Joker."

Akira's smile grew a little more honest. "Right. Glad you're back on your feet."

"Good to be back up. Though it's not going to be for long if we don't..."

End this. Win this. _Survive_ this. Akira understood what was going unsaid—and it was all horribly, painfully true.

"Mona!" Akira hollered, waving to his friend.

The cat came at a run, leaping onto Akira's shoulder. "This is bad, Joker. We've never encountered a shadow this strong before."

"And that's not a shadow," Akira muttered.

"No, it's not," Mona agreed. "This is more like fighting Akechi than a shadow. Akechi with a lot more personas.

Akira had to acknowledge that that was true. "So, what now?"

Before anyone could respond, Takeba's shriek cut them off, "Why? Why Minato? Why are you doing this? Do you honestly want to kill us?"

Exchanging a glance, they took off towards the noise. They did not have far to go. Takeba was standing, fists and jaw clenched, and nostrils slightly flared as she glared at Arisato. Several of her friends had also gathered, forming a protective group around her.

"Yukari, I—"

"You _what_ , man?" Iori demanded, taking an aggressive, half step forward. "The hell is your issue? We're your friends, Minato!"

A course of agreement greeted his words, cutting Arisato off before he could get a word in edgewise. When the ruckus finally gave him an opening, Arisato took it, scowling. "I'm doing what I have to do! What I've always had to do! Someone has to do whatever it takes—you _can't_!"

"Is this some twisted way of trying to protect us?" Sanada demanded. "Because it's pretty shitty if it is!"

"Please, Minato..." Fuuka begged quietly. "Please just explain what you mean. We don't understand."

"Of course not," Arisato cut in bitterly. "None of you can. But I can. I saved the world once, and I came back to do it again."

"Why can't we help?" Kirijo asked, stepping forward. "You haven't explained that."

"You just can't!"

"Not very good reasoning," she retorted.

"We want to help you, Minato," Yukari said softly. "Please, just let us."

"Help me? Like you helped me when I was dying?"

"That's not fair!" Iori snapped. "You're the one deciding not to _ask for our_ _ **fucking**_ _ **help**_!"

"We want to help, Minato! Please, let us," Ken pleaded.

"Why won't you let us help?" Aigis added.

The entire argument was sounding rather cyclical to Akira, but it was the android's quiet plea that finally, finally, seemed to break Arisato. With a sigh, his shoulders sagged. "I got a second chance. I...I have to do it right this time. I do."

"A second chance?" Takeba asked, brow furrowed.

"Elizabeth," Arisato's voice hitched slightly, almost imperceptibly, on the name, "she took my place. I...I have to," his grip on his evoker tightened, the gun creaking in his grasp, "I can't let her..."

"We were always stronger as a team," Souji said, stepping forward and utterly radiating confidence. Behind him, Orpheus Telos shimmered into view. "You know that. I know that. We all know that. You never have to act by yourself, Minato. Whatever twisted belief you've given yourself—it's fake. We're here, and we've always been here. And we'll always _be_ here. All of us, even Joker's group, now. We're friends."

"Right," Akira said, nodding. "This has always been a team effort. Let all of us be your team."

Arisato remained silent, so Souji spoke up again, "They threatened Igor. Now, I don't know about you, but I take that personally. So I think there's another would-be god who needs its ass whooped."

Minato had been staring at his evoker throughout their speech, but he finally looked up at that. And, blessedly, nodded. "I—we—saved the world once. What's one more time?"

"Twice, technically," Souji said, "but who's counting."

"Let's make it three," Akira said, stepping forward. "We'd appreciate your help."

Slowly, carefully, Minato holstered his evoker and raised a hand for Akira to shake. With his other, he clapped Souji on the shoulder. "Okay. Let's—help me, please."

"You don't even have to ask," Souji said, smirking.

And that was all it took.

WORLD ARCANA RANK UP

RANK MAX

Akira blinked, and he was back in the Velvet Room, this time alone. Over his steepled fingers, Igor—the real Igor—grinned diabolically. "So, you have succeeded."

Meeting his eyes, Akira nodded. "For now. We aren't done yet."

"Perhaps, but I do not think you will have trouble with your next trial." In front of Igor, on the table, rested an overturned card. With a wave of one hand, the card flipped over to reveal a persona Akira had never seen before. "The bonds you have made on your journey will support you.

"Take it. It is yours."

Stepping forward, Akira did as bidden, plucking the card from the table. As the Velvet Room faded from his mind, the persona's name echoed in his mind:

 _Sataneal_.

With the top of Tartarus back in focus, Akira scanned the assembled teams—team, now—with a confidence he had not felt all day. With a confident smirk, he met the eyes of those closest to him, drawing their attention as he said, "So, who's ready to kick some god-ass?"

Everyone was, it seemed.

"Good. Then this'll be too easy."


End file.
